There Will Be Blood
by Foxtrot21
Summary: The Volturi took over the government 15 years ago. It's time to take back what's rightfully theirs. It's time to stop the injustices of cruel old men. It's time for revenge - there will be blood.
1. Chapter 1: Bella

**Bella's POV**

"…where…she?" a faint voice drifted into my conscious. I slowly turned my throbbing head to find the disembodied voice; a sharp pain shot through my body and a gasp escaped my lips. The voices continued to float in and out my mind.

"What…find? Did you…? Fine, fine. How is…?" I couldn't make sense of the ramblings. My brow scrunched up; it didn't feel right, the skin was too tight. Slowly I managed to bring my hand up to touch my forehead and encountered some crusty substance. Had Renee taken me to a spa without my knowing?

I brought my hand down and as I did I noticed a flaky, rust-colored substance coated most of it. A small moan slipped out and I attempted to remain cognizant. The blood began to pound in my ears. I moaned again.

Suddenly a pale face I didn't recognize hovered over me. "Isabella?"

I squinted my eyes in confusion and tried to turn my face away. Another blinding pain ripped through my body. "Don't move. I need you to remain immobile, Isabella," the face instructed me. It disappeared from my sight for several moments before coming back into my sight.

"You've got a minor neck injury, but to be on the safe side, I need you to stay still."

"Renee?"

The face looked away from me for several beats. "Renee?" I again asked. The face looked back at me. I knew that look; I had seen it on countless faces since the beginning of this war: my mother was dead. "Phil?" I tried. I received the same sad look.

"Isabella, do you remember anything?" the face asked with a grave expression.

I tried to think, "I…I remember an explosion…lots of shouting…" my eyes darted to the face's hazel eyes, "…they found us…oh, God, they found us…" my eyes slipped shut and a single tear leaked out. I hated crying in front of people, especially strangers. I tried to turn my head away.

"No, Isabella, stay still." Two hands quickly grabbed my head to keep it in place.

"Who are you?" I managed to gasp out. The tears pushing relentlessly against my lash line but I refused to let them fall; I would be strong.

"My name is Carlisle Cullen. I am the medic for the Seatacoma Region."

"Is that where we are? The Seatacoma Region?"

"Yes, we're in the underground city," Carlisle said, "Now, I'm going to give you a shot of morphine to ease the pain in your neck. You must have sprained the neck muscles in the explosion. You also have a concussion, though from the amount of dents in your head, I would say this isn't your first."

I could feel the blush spread across my face. "So I'm a little clumsy."

Carlisle laughed. "So it would seem. Now, can you tell me your name?"

"You mean you haven't said it enough already?"

A smile flashed across his face. "It's a device to calm patients coming out of a coma or awakening from a head trauma."

"Oh. My name is Isabella Marie Swan. But I prefer to be called Bella."

"And when were you born?"

"September 13, 1987 in the state formerly known as Washington in the town of Forks," I answered anticipating his next question.

"Good, now follow my finger. Okay. You just need to rest to allow your neck to heal. That means minimal head movement. Don't make me put you in a brace," he jokingly threatened. A ghost of a smile whispered across my lips. Carlisle turned to leave the room and hesitated. He looked back at me, "Do you want to see your father?"

It took me a moment to process that. I hadn't seen Charlie in fifteen years. Fighting had broken out when I was two and by the time I was three, we were living in the underground commune in the Cactus Desert Territory, or what was left of Phoenix and its outlying cities. Our only form of communication with the outside world was with an old ham radio. And while I had spoken a handful of times with Charlie over the years, I hadn't _seen_ him. "You mean…you mean he's here?"

Confusion crossed Carlisle's face. "Yes, Bella, he's here. He's the commanding general of the underground movement in the Seatacoma Region. Didn't you know?"

"I haven't spoken to my father in five years." I waited for Carlisle to be hit with an epiphany.

"When they deciphered our code," he muttered to himself.

"Yeah. Um, do you think I could clean up a little before Char- my dad comes in?" The feeling of dried blood was a sickening one. Not to mention I had no desire for Charlie to see me covered in blood.

"Oh, right. Sorry, I guess I get so used to seeing people covered in blood it doesn't bother me any more." This man was insane. Not notice someone being covered in blood? Even with all of the death and destruction I had witnessed in my seventeen years, I still reacted negatively to blood. A thought occurred to me.

"The blood on me…is it mine?" I looked down in an attempt to see past the juts of my cheekbones.

He became very somber, "Some of it." I slightly nodded my head before remembering I had to keep still.

"Is it…is it my mom's?"

"I'm not going to tell you that, Bella," he quietly said before leaving the room.

I squeezed my eyes tightly shut. _'I'm not gonna cry. I'm not gonna cry. I'm not gonna cry,'_ I told myself. I took a deep breath and sniffed back the snot threatening to drip from my nose. _'So glamorous,'_ I thought with a snort.

A couple of minutes later a nurse came in with a basin of warm water and several washcloths. She gently wiped the dried blood from my face, neck, hands, and arms. She smiled gently at me when she was done and took the now red water and washcloths with her. Moments later I heard the plodding footsteps of what I assumed to be my father.

He slowly entered the room and came to stand by my bed. I looked up into his tired face. Deep circles had taken up residence underneath his eyes; my eyes. His curly brown hair was cropped close to his head, removing most of the curl. It looked as though fingers had been run through the dark strands countless times. A sad smile graced his haggard face with a deep melancholy reflected in his eyes.

"Hey, Bells," he quietly said.

"Hey, Char- Dad," a wince escaped; hopefully he hadn't heard my slip. The corner of his mouth quirked up; he'd heard.

"How are you?" I shot him a look.

"Um, my neck kind of hurts."

"Didn't Carlisle give you some morphine?"

"Not much and I've kind of built a resistance to it over the years." Charlie gave a soft laugh before his face once again became as solemn as a graveyard.

"Bells, I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but do you remember anything? Anything at all? It would really help us if we knew exactly what happened."

I looked up at him. "Right, you need to rest, heal up some. We'll talk tomorrow. I can't stay with you tonight, but Carlisle said you could go home tomorrow," Charlie said.

"_Home_?" I questioned, my voice cracking, "Home is _gone_. Home's been gone for the past fifteen years. Any semblance of a home I had is gone! Bombed and razed and wiped off the face of the earth."

Charlie looked panicky and completely out of his element. His eyes darted around the room in search of someone to help him. "She's not here to provide the emotional side of parenting anymore, Charlie. She's gone!" I cruelly informed him.

"I know that, Bells. Just calm down," he sadly instructed me, "I know this is going to be hard on you. Let's just try to make the best of things."

I bit my lip in indecision before acknowledging his request. A small smile flitted across his mouth. "Okay, I'll be back tomorrow afternoon to get you." He leaned down as if to kiss my forehead, paused, raised slightly up again, and finally gently pressed a kiss to my head. "'Night, Bells."


	2. Chapter 2: Charlie

**Charlie's POV**

"James, where is she?" With every inch of my being I hoped she was alive and well. I couldn't take it if I lost her.

"Dr. Cullen's with her right now."

I breathed a sigh of relief. If Carlisle was with her, then she was all right. Quickly, I snapped back into commander mode. "What did you find?"

"Somehow the Volturi found out where they were located and bombed the area until they reached the commune. The damage was…extensive. There's a crater over fifty miles deep. They bombed the shit out of the place - that or they've developed a bomb powerful enough to create a hole that deep." This was not good news. The Cactus Desert commune was the third resistance city to be demolished in the past eight months. Surely by now the Volturi knew all of us were located underground. Then again, they could be dense about things. They had underestimated us time and time again.

Sadly, I shook my head. "Did you find any other survivors?" '_Like Renee_,' I wanted to add.

"No, sir. In fact, the only survivor we found was Isabella. We almost didn't find her. She was underneath a body. That's probably the only reason she's still alive. From the looks of it, a couple dozen people may have survived the bombings, but died of hypothermia or wounds during the night," James replied.

"The…the body Bella was under…what did it look like?" Renee may not have loved me like I loved her, but I knew without a doubt that she loved our daughter. Like any parent, she would die for her child.

"It's hard to say, sir. It was a female, but she was covered in blood and dust. From what I could tell: short brown hair, slight of build. By appearances I would guess probably in her mid-to-late thirties."

With a deep breath I accepted the fact that Renee was dead. She had protected our daughter even in her death, though. "Would you say the woman looked like Bella?"

A sharp nod. "Yes, sir, there was a marked resemblance. There was a male a couple of feet away from her. They had matching wedding bands. We assumed they were married."

_Renee had remarried? I guess time heals all wounds…or not._ "Did you bury all the dead?"

"Yes. We put them in five mass graves. Many of the bodies were so damaged there was no way to tell whether they were male or female, married or single, young or old. We figured it was best to put them all together."

This was what we had been reduced to: burying our dead in mass graves with nothing to mark their passing. "Thank you. You are dismissed."

And with that James saluted and left the infirmary. I took in a deep breath and slowly released it. This would be the first time I had seen my baby girl in fifteen years. She was almost a woman now.

Where had the time gone? It seemed like only yesterday that Renee was walking out the door with Bella, saying she couldn't stay in Forks any longer. _Oh, my sweet little baby girl._

With soft steps I walked over to the double doors and placed my hand against them, ready to push them open. Faintly, I could hear Carlisle talking with Bella.

"Do you want to see your father?"

"You mean…you mean he's here?" She sounded confused. Of course I would be here! She was my daughter and I hadn't seen her in over a decade.

A thought occurred to me: maybe she didn't want to see me. Maybe Renee's new husband had taken my place. What if Bella blamed me for her mother's death? I couldn't stand it if she thought that. Carlisle's voice ripped me from my painful thoughts. When had he left Bella?

"Charlie? You can go in and see Bella in a few minutes. A nurse is going to help her clean up first." I took it as a welcome relief that she had not outright refused to see me; there was a chance I had not been replaced.

"How is she?" _Please let her be okay_.

"She's fine. Just some mild hypothermia, which she's already recovered from, and a neck sprain from one of the explosions."

I nodded my head, my eyes focused on the doors in front of me. Faintly, I heard Carlisle walk off. A nurse walked past me with a basin of water and several cloths. A couple minutes later she came out, trying to keep me from seeing the water. But I did. It was the coppery-red of dried blood.

Slowly, as if in a daze, I walked to the doors and pushed them open. Somehow I ended up next to Bella's bed. Her face was drawn and the horror of the attack lingered in her eyes…my eyes. Her bone structure may have matched Renee's, but her coloring was all mine. Two halves had come together to create a perfect whole. She was beautiful, my baby girl.

It was hard to believe that the last time I had seen Bella she was only two years old. Even then she had been a solemn and serious child. "Hey, Bells," I said softly.

"Hey, Char-Dad." She winced. The side of my mouth twitched in amusement.

"How are you?" _Please say you're all right. Please _be_ all right_.

Bella gave me a look. Internally, I cringed. It was a stupid question. Of course she wasn't all right. Her mother and stepfather had died right in front of her eyes. Then, her dead mother's body had kept her warm through the night. Nothing was right with her world at this moment.

"Um, my neck kind of hurts," she muttered, not looking at me. Well, I already knew that. I wanted her to tell me how she felt. But, then again, Bella was truly my daughter. Neither one of us was comfortable expressing our emotions. It was part of the reason Renee had left me.

"Didn't Carlisle give you some morphine?"

"Not much and I've kind of built a resistance to it over the years." I laughed. I had to. Even as a baby Bella had been clumsy. Before our code had been broken, I would get monthly reports about Bella's accidents. Gradually, I sobered up.

"Bells, I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but do you remember anything? Anything at all? It would really help us if we knew exactly what happened." Edward was going to need to talk to her, but I was going to try and hold that off for as long as possible. Bella needed time to recover, and I didn't particularly like the thought of Bella being near boys close to her age.

Edward was twenty and while he was mature for his age, he was still a hormonal, young boy. Living in a small, underground commune meant that the teenage pregnancy rate was sky high. I was determined to limit Bella's interaction with the opposite sex as possible. For her own safety, of course.

Bella, again, shot me a look like I was the biggest idiot alive. "Right, you need to rest, heal up some. We'll talk tomorrow. I can't stay with you tonight, but Carlisle said you could go home tomorrow."

"_Home_?" she asked, her voice cracking. Uh oh, this could not mean anything good.

_Strike two, Charlie_. It was going to take me a while to get back in the hang of being a parent. I didn't know how to raise a young girl.

"Home is _gone_. Home's been gone for the past fifteen years. Any semblance of a home I had is gone! Bombed and razed and wiped off the face of the earth." _Yep, not good_. As much as I loved Bella, a boy would have been much easier to raise. Boys were stoic, girls were…well, emotional, histrionic, prone to tantrums.

I could feel my eyes begin to dart around the small room, seeking help of any kind. Where was that nurse? Shouldn't she be somewhere nearby in case Bella needed anything?

I was out of my element. _'Mayday! Mayday!'_ my mind screamed at me.

Bella lashed out at my ineptness with a stinging barb, "She's not here to provide the emotional side of parenting anymore, Charlie. She's gone!" _Ouch, right for the heart._ I was trying. It was just going to take me a little while. Couldn't she see that? I loved her. I just didn't know how to show it. Men weren't supposed to be touchy-feely.

What Bella needed right now was Renee. But as she said, Renee was no longer here. I was all Bella had left and I had to find some way to let her know that I did love her and I was doing my best.

"I know that, Bells. Just calm down," I sadly instructed her, "I know this is going to be hard on you. Let's just try to make the best of things."

Behind tear-filled brown eyes, I could see wheels turning. She already felt bad about her outburst. Maybe she did know I loved her. She bit her lip before barely nodding her head. A smile flitted across my mouth. "Okay, I'll be back tomorrow afternoon to get you." I leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead and paused, wondering if I was moving too quickly. I mean, we hadn't seen each other in fifteen years, talked in five. I backed up a bit and then decided, to hell with it. I wanted to let my only child know that I loved her with all my being. I pressed my lips gently to her forehead. Her hair still reeked of smoke. "Night, Bells."

And with that, I turned and left the room. I needed to go speak with Edward first and then Esme. I was going to need some help getting a room for Bella ready.

"Switch to camera three," Edward ordered as I entered the Occipital center, or the visual part of the Cerebrum. "Now camera four, okay. Zoom in on that – Jesus! That's the fourth time this week we've caught them! Victoria, go break them up and tell them if we catch them one more time I will end their sex life, permanently."

I squinted up at the screen and sighed. Mike and Jessica were notorious repeat offenders. Couldn't they find somewhere a little more private than the south corridor? Shaking my head, I went over to Edward.

"Can I speak to you for a moment, Edward?" He glanced at me and nodded before instructing his second-in-command to continue checking all the cameras. We walked over to an isolated area of the circular room.

Images flickered across the many screens as I thought over what I wanted to say to him. Edward's perceptive green eyes took in every expression that crossed my face. I opened my mouth to speak, but took a deep breath instead. His head tilted to the side as he ever so slightly pursed his lips; he knew exactly what I was going to say and he wasn't going to like it.

"Charlie, I need to talk to her. She's the only survivor and any information she has regarding the attack will help us," he said, staring intently into my eyes.

"She needs time. She just woke up to find out her home's been destroyed and her mother killed. This is very traumatic for her," I pleaded.

"You're preventing me from doing my job. I told you that I would only take this position if you would let me do my job. I can't protect us if I don't know anything. Our locations are being revealed and I need to know how, or we could be next. And I am a little concerned with the fact that Bella's the only survivor. What if the Volturi planted some kind of device on her and left her to be rescued? We could have brought the Volturi into our haven," Edward began to rant.

"Just give her a few days. That's all I'm asking," I snapped. "And she was thoroughly put through the scanner. If anything…if anything it's a mistake she's still alive."

A tic started in his jaw. "Fine, she has three days and then she's mine."

"That's all I'm asking." Edward looked at me for several more moments before turning on his heel and stalking from the room. A sigh escaped my mouth and I raised a weary arm to rub my neck. This day had really not gone so well. Again, I sighed and left the room in search of Esme.

I needed to get a room set up for Bella and I had no idea what a teenage girl required. Hopefully Esme could help. Now if someone could help me parent a girl; I was in the middle of nowhere without a map or GPS. To say I was floundering would be an understatement – I was up shit creek without a paddle and no arms.


	3. Chapter 3: Bella

**Bella's POV**

_"Get in the hideout, Bella," Renee pleaded._

_ "No, Mom, I can help," I insisted._

_ She cupped my cheek in her hand, a sad look in her eyes, "No, baby, I can't be worrying about you."_

_ "Renee!" Phil shouted, "Get her in the hideout!" Renee pushed me into the hole and dragged the cover over it, leaving a small slice for light and air to get in._

_ I sat down, pulled my knees up to my chest, and put my head down. Suddenly, the ground shook as something landed with a fierce impact. Screams reached my ears as I cowered into the farthest corner of the hideout._

_ What I guessed to be bombs continued to rain down on our small commune. From what I could hear, I guessed that the city had been breached from above, and that could mean only one thing: they had found us._

_ "Run!" Phil screamed, anguish filling his voice. My head jerked up and I clambered forward to peek out. Renee was running towards me. Gunfire filled the air along with the screams of the dying. I pressed my hands tightly to my ears and scooted back. There was nothing more I wanted to see. _

_ Something landed with a thud against the piece of metal that covered me. My body curled into a tiny ball as I began to rock back and forth. More explosions filled the air. The darkness claimed me._

My body launched forward as I took in deep breaths. My neck was screaming in agony from the movement, but instead I focused on the dream that had just taken place. I slowly lowered myself before rolling to be on my side. Tears gently slid from underneath my eyelids. I was never going to forget that day.

A bomb had landed near the hideout from what I could gather. When it had gone off, the hideout had exploded. I was thrown about before losing consciousness. When I had come to several people were attempting to dig me out of the rubble I had been hidden beneath, safely enveloped in a pocket of air. I didn't particularly remember much after that. I must have passed out again.

I knew that the blood I had been covered in was my mother's. It was her body that had landed on top of the cover, protecting me even in death from the Volturi. And when the explosion had rocked the hideout, it was her body that had landed on top of mine and kept me warm in the bitter cold of the desert night.

Gradually, I drifted off to sleep, tears still rolling unimpeded down my cheeks and onto the pillow.

"Bells?" Charlie whispered, waking me up. I rolled onto my back and opened my eyes. "You shouldn't be moving so much."

My eyes rolled to look at Charlie. "What time is it?"

"About eleven in the morning. I'm here to take you home, kiddo."

_Kiddo? What was I? Five? _

"I'll get the nurse to come help you get ready." He exited the room and I examined the ceiling as I waited for someone to come help me get dressed. I would need all new clothes. The ones I had been wearing were, no doubt, covered in blood, and everything else had probably been destroyed in the attack on the commune.

The fact that I was going to have to completely rebuild my life was slowly dawning on me. I was going to need new clothes, new shoes, new bedding, new everything.

The doors swung open and the nurse came in holding clothes I'd never seen before. "Those aren't mine."

"Oh, yes, your father went and got you some things yesterday. They're not new…pretty much everything down here is hand-me-down, but they should suffice," the woman explained, setting them down on the foot of my bed. "Now, you really need to get some more rest once you go home. It's going to take a little while for your neck to heal, and we don't want you upsetting the injury any further."

A sigh escaped me. I didn't have any of my books to keep me occupied; I was going to be miserable until my neck got better. Carefully, I rose from the bed and let the nurse help me put my shirt on. Charlie had neglected to get me a bra, not that I really needed one.

Several minutes later, I was waiting for Charlie to come back into the room to take me home. _'Home,'_ I thought, _'I have no home.'_

"So, what do you think?" he asked as we entered what was to be my room.

"It's very…purple." It looked like a purple bomb had gone off in the room. The walls were purple, the bedding was purple, even the carpet was purple!

"Yes, Esme said purple was a soothing color. Is it too much?" He looked so hopeful I hated to say anything.

"No, it's great. I like purple."

Silence reigned for several minutes. Finally Charlie spoke, "Well, I guess you should get some rest. Let your neck heal. I have to go back into work, but I'll come and check on you periodically."

"Work?" I questioned. No one really had jobs down here; they just did what needed to be done.

"Yeah, I, um, I'm the commanding general of the resistance right now," he admitted, a rosy hue filling his cheeks.

"Oh, right. Dr. Cullen told me. I guess I just forgot." There was more silence. "So what do you do?"

"Um, I command…plan…you know, the basics." No, I didn't know, but I doubted Charlie would tell me.

"Right, well, I'm kind of tired. I think I'll take a nap."_ Hint, hint, wink, wink_.

"Right, yeah, okay. So I'll be at the Cerebrum, but I'll be back to check on you in an hour," he said, walking out the door.

With a sigh, I sank onto the bed and tried to look at my surroundings without moving my neck. The room was Spartan, to say the least. There was a bed and a dresser along with a desk, but no bookcase, or end table, or anything I might've had back at the Cactus Desert commune. My own father barely knew me. Instead of just asking me what I liked, he'd enlisted the help of some woman who didn't even know me.

A single tear slipped down the curve of my cheek. I took in a deep, shaky breath. _'No more tears,' _I told myself. From now on, I was going to try and make the best of it. It was the only thing I could do; I couldn't go back to the Cactus Desert commune, it had been blown to smithereens.

Again, I sighed and lay down on the bed. Slowly, I began to clear my mind of all my problems. I pushed my mother's death from my mind, my lack of possessions, my relationship with my father and, finally, the oblivion of sleep claimed me.


	4. Chapter 4: Edward

**Edward's POV**

"Damn it, Rose, pay attention!" I said irritably. For the last fifteen minutes I had been attempting to explain the mission to Rose, but she was too busy fiddling with her hair to pay any attention.

"I am, Edward. I'm to be a ghost; never seen nor heard by anyone. I am not to exist while I'm up there. My mission is to scout for supplies and if possible, enemy locations. Don't worry, I've been listening; I just don't feel the need to look at you." The queen skimmed a glance over my rigid features, deigning to give me a mere second of her attention, before moving on to inspect her fingernails.

"This isn't a ride through the park, Rosalie. You're not going up there so you can be admired and fawned over. I'd like to know that my instructions are actually penetrating your thick skull."

Rosalie's icy gaze clashed with mine. For several moments we were locked in a battle of will: who would look away first. Countless minutes went by before Rose's eyes skittered away from mine.

"This isn't my first rodeo," she muttered, glaring over my shoulder at the earthen wall of the Frontal center.

"No, but it is your first time topside in almost two years. Things have changed. The Volturi's reach is much more widespread now. If you thought it was bad when you were up there, think again. They've got their dirty little fingers in every pot; you won't be safe anywhere.

"Make sure to keep your hair covered; blondes are all but nonexistent nowadays, along with redheads. It's all right if some of your skin shows, you're as pale as the rest of those pathetic souls up there."

Rose shot me another look, trying to tell if I had complimented or insulted her. I myself was unsure of whether I had or not. This constant dance of lunge and parry with Rose was becoming exhausting, yet I saw no end to it. It had been that way since I had found her just outside the commune's entrance, left under filthy newspapers and other assorted trash.

Esme said it wasn't my fault Rose was so harsh towards me and that she would be that way towards all men for a while. But I knew better; I could see the resentment hiding in her eyes. Resentment for which I could find no cause as I had been nothing but a gentleman since meeting her. With Carlisle and Charlie she was still cool, but gentleness coated her words and actions towards them.

"Once you leave the city limits, head towards the forest. It's one of the few places the Volturi doesn't have influence. After you exit the forest, head northwest. We've received notice that the Volturi are storing food and clothing in the Vancouver area. If you find that this claim is true, come back and we'll send out a larger party to bring it back. Do not attempt to bring any of it back with you." I was adamant in my instructions to Rose. There was a high probability that this was simply a hoax to lure us out of hiding, and I wanted to check the validity of these claims before I sent any team to retrieve the much needed supplies.

There was only so much we could grow under artificial light. The whole commune was vegan, as we had no sources of meat or dairy to pull from.

"Okay, I've got it. May I go now?" Rosalie asked.

I slapped several maps down on the table. "Once you memorize these, then you can go."

Rosalie's lip curled and I grinned before heading back to the Occipital center to check the corridors.

She was…breathtaking; absolutely astonishing. Her features were small and delicate, as if crafted by the tiniest of hands. A full mouth was placed underneath a petite little nose with an intriguing dimple just to the side of her mouth. Her eyes…

Charlie's eyes stared back at me from the angel's face. Quickly, I snapped out of my fanciful musings and put on a stern face. It had been three days since Charlie had brought Bella home and he could no longer hold me up with excuses; the time had come for me to question her.

My eyes took in the scratches and bruises that marred her face and arms. The urge to kill whoever had done this to her raged through me; I wanted to tear them limb from limb as they begged for mercy.

With a start, I realized I had been staring at her for several minutes. A blush now covered her entire face. My mind began to race. _What the hell was happening?_ Never before had I had such a visceral reaction to someone. My emotions were always kept in check; I never let them get the better of me.

My mouth hardened and set into a thin, stern line. The best thing for me to do was emotionally detach myself from her. She was too alluring, a danger to all I had achieved. Since the death of my parents I had cut myself off from the rest of the world, emotionally. For three years I had cut myself off emotionally from the rest of society; I couldn't start feeling now. I sat down and turned my now cold gaze on her. She shrank back in her chair.

"Hello, Bella. My name is Edward and I'm the head of intelligence. I just need to ask you a few questions about the attack on your commune," I began. She lowered her head and her hair swung in front of her face, hiding her expression.

"Umm, I don't remember all that much," she stammered.

"Anything you can tell me will be helpful."

Her eyes focused on her knee and her hands began manipulating the cloth covering her leg. Silence reigned for several minutes before she quietly began to speak. I had to strain my ears to hear the softly whispered words.

"Well, I remember my mother running into my room and dragging me out of our home. She was frantic; she knew…something…was going to happen. Phil came running up to us, shouting that we were under attack. People started streaming out of their houses. There was a bunch of screaming…it was so loud. Mom started begging me to get in the hideout –"

Swiftly, I cut her off, "Hideout?"

"Phil had dug this little shelter further into the ground near our home. It was supposed to be a safe place to go if anything ever happened." Her hands started to work the cloth more frantically. Slowly, I focused my eyes on her desperate movements. My heart squeezed painfully as I realized she was fighting to keep the pain of the memories at bay.

Softly, I continued my questioning, "When did he build it?" _And what did this Phil guy know that we didn't?_

Most resistance fighters were solid in their belief that the Volturi would never find them underground; they didn't worry about having another safe place to go. Most of their fellow communes had no idea where they were located. That information was highly privileged. Only those in positions of power knew the location of other communes, typically within their area. We were the only ones to have the coordinates of every commune.

"I guess about a year and a half ago."

A year and a half? That was a long time to know something and not tell anyone. "So after your mother got you into the hideout…?"

"She put the cover over it and…" Bella turned her head further away from me. "And then the ground starting shaking. They were dropping bombs until enough of the surface had been blasted away to reveal the commune. Through a crack I could see people running around, screaming and crying. There was so much screaming, so much blood.

"Then I heard Phil scream for my mother to run. She was running towards the hideout when I decided I didn't want to see anymore. I could hear gunfire and the screams were slowly stopping. I heard something slam into the cover of the shelter and more bombs falling…that's all I remember until they found me."

I sat back in my chair and crossed my arms over my chest. I wasn't getting anything off this girl. I couldn't tell if she was withholding anything or lying. Damn it, I never had any trouble reading people, so what was up with this one girl?

"And that's all?" I icily stated.

Her head jerked up and her hands stilled, her haunted brown eyes met mine. "Yes, that's all."

"You know nothing more?" Bella shook her head no and winced. "What?"

"Nothing. I hurt my neck and I keep forgetting not to move it."

Charlie jumped forward and my body jerked towards him. _When the hell had he come in?_ _Had I been so absorbed in the girl that I didn't notice him entering the room? _

It was my job to know what people did and here I was, not able to notice one man entering the room I was in. I glared at Bella; it was all her fault.

She pressed even further into her chair.

"She told you all she knows, Edward," Charlie said, looking worriedly at his daughter.

"Yes, thank you," I coldly said before leaving.

That girl was trouble and I needed to avoid her at all costs.

I walked swiftly towards the infirmary, paying little attention to the people around me. When I reached the doors and heard voices inside, I paused and listened.

"There has to be something you can do, Carlisle. You're a doctor for Christ's sake!" Charlie said, anguish evident in his voice.

"And I'm working with limited supplies down here, Charlie. You know that! I don't even have enough antibiotics to cover one fifth of the commune." Carlisle was frustrated, that much was clear. It was a rare occasion that he raised his voice.

"I don't want antibiotics; I want something to make them stop. I can't take it anymore, it's killing me, it's slowly killing me." Charlie's voice was so low and hoarse I had to strain my ears to catch the last of this.

"There's nothing I can do. It's just going to take some time." Exasperation practically oozed from Carlisle's voice. Whatever it was they were discussing, Charlie just wasn't getting it.

"I can't. I can't. Every night I listen to her scream and before I can even get to her room I hear her trying to stifle the sound in her pillow. I sit outside her door waiting for her to fall back asleep, listening to her pant. She's got these dark circles under her eyes that get darker every day.

"She tries to read so she won't fall asleep, but she's so exhausted it's inevitable. And then, and then the other night, she fell asleep on the couch and she started screaming but it quickly died out and I realized…I realized her voice had given out and she was silently screaming. There was nothing I could do. I just had to sit there helplessly watching my daughter silently scream; she wouldn't wake up, no matter how hard I shook her.

"I don't know what to do. She won't tell me anything and she barely speaks to me. I don't know what to do. I feel so helpless," his voice tapered off, filled with torment.

There was silence and I decided I should go in. I opened the door as Charlie exploded. "God damn it! God damn it!" His fist punched the hard dirt wall over and over as he raged at inexplicable forces. By the time he wore himself out, he'd sunk to his knees, fists hanging bloodily at his sides, his head leaning hopelessly against the wall.

It was a defeated man who sobbed quietly on the floor. Where everything the Volturi had thrown at us has failed, Bella's suffering triumphed. Nothing had broken Charlie, until this. Carlisle somberly met my gaze before helping Charlie up.

"Charlie, there's no medication on earth that could heal Bella, only time can do that," Carlisle softly said, patting his friend on the shoulder and silently leaving the room.

Charlie's red eyes rose to meet mine. "I want them dead; every last one of them. When I'm through, there should be no Volturi left on this godforsaken earth. I don't care what it takes, I just want them dead."

I nodded my head and watched him stalk from the room.

There would be no mention of this conversation. We would go on as if none of this had ever happened.


	5. Chapter 5: Rosalie

**Rose's POV**

This was the first time I'd come topside since they'd brought me here. I hadn't seen real sunlight in two years. I shook myself out of a daze; I was up here to do some scouting – not to get a tan.

I slithered the rest of the way out of the tiny hole that led me to the surface, being careful where I placed my hands. I couldn't afford to leave any evidence of my presence. I slowly stood up and pressed myself into the darkness of the molding wall behind me. I glanced cautiously around; I saw no one. I pulled the atrocious hat they'd given me further over my head so that I could barely see past the brim.

Not a thread of my golden hair was to show; it would be a dead giveaway that I didn't belong on the surface as the genes for blondes and redheads had died out. I pulled the leather gloves out of the back pocket of the tent Edward claimed were pants. I slid them on my hands and pushed down on the spaces in between my fingers, making sure the fit was snug. I wiggled my small digits around, admiring the way the gloves made my hands look. A smile tugged at my normally downturned mouth.

I took a deep breath. I was going to have to head back into a world I hadn't seen in years, a world I never wanted to see again.

I oozed my body out of the fetid alleyway, my head down so not to attract any notice. I blended effortlessly into the crowd pushing its way down the rubble-filled streets. Smoke hung in the air, ever-present; I tried not to breathe too deeply. I continued on, a nameless entity in the crowd. When I reached the edge of the downtown area I slipped off in a direction away from the mindless, pathetic souls that continued to wander the barren plains of the city.

Once I was out of sight I began to lightly jog; I needed to reach the city limits before nightfall. The deteriorated air made exercise difficult, but I pushed on. Living in the underground commune for the past two years had made me strong, mentally. I was in no way the woman I had been before; I was powerful and determined now.

Within two hours I was several miles away from the crumbling walls of the city. I was making better time than he and I thought I would. I smirked; Edward was always underestimating me, but this would show him.

Just as the red sun flared over the top of the highest wall surrounding the remains of the city, I reached the outer limits. I was now out of the city. I pulled the ridiculous hat off my head and shook my hair free. God that felt good. I kept the gloves on, they were nice. All silky and comfortable against my hands, plus they made sure I left no fingerprints behind. I wished I could rip the baggy, grey pants from my body, but they were the only pants I had and they blended well with the hazy atmosphere.

I stuffed the hat into a deep pocket on the front of my thigh, resigned to having to wear it again to get back to the commune.

I was now at the edge of the forest; somehow it had managed to survive all the bombings and artillery, though the slightly brown tinge to the leaves revealed it had not escaped unscathed. Everything on the surface was dying, some just more slowly than others.

Heading into the woods, I was careful to step on as many rocks as possible, trying not to disturb their resting place. No trace of me could be left behind. I slipped among the tall trees as the sun descended further in the sky. I had to hurry if I wanted to make it to a safe place tonight.

I began to move faster through the foliage, though I couldn't move as quickly as I wanted. I huffed in annoyance.

Suddenly, I slammed to a stop and perked my ears. Nothing. I continued on, though with more caution.

I stopped again. There it was again, that weird sound. I listened for several minutes but heard nothing else, so I started walking again. A couple of minutes later I came to another stop. That damn sound! What was it? It wasn't coming at regular intervals so I knew it wasn't machinery of any kind. That ruled out tracking devices or weapons. So what was it?

My body sank into a crouch and waited. Moments later I heard it again. It sounded like…like a groaning animal. Ugh, I would stumble upon two rutting animals. My lip curled and I continued walking. When the sounds again reached my ears I sped up; I wanted to get as far away from the horny bastards as quickly as possible.

I continued through the forest, but the sounds only seemed to be getting louder. Great! Fan-freakin'-tastic! I was getting closer and I still had no way of approximating their exact position, so I had no way of figuring how to get past them without interrupting their coital bliss. A hiss escaped my mouth. Suddenly the forest went deadly silent. The fuckers had heard me, wonderful.

I stopped and managed to keep the many curse words filling my mouth inside. Moments later a more hushed groan reached my ears. Were they trying to attract less attention now that they knew someone was in the forest with them? I froze. That wasn't animal behavior - that was human. My right hand dropped to the back waistband of my pants and pulled the gun resting there free.

My orders were clear, I had to kill the people here; no one could know I had been here. I waited for another groan to issue forth and attempted to head towards the sound. Slowly I made my way forwards, letting the groans guide me. I could tell I was getting closer, the sounds were getting louder and more clear.

I scowled to myself. _Who the fuck has sex in a forest? And who continues even after they hear someone else? Fucking perverts._

Raising a hand, I pushed aside a large fern, wincing as I did so. I hated disturbing anything. A gasp escaped my lips. There were no people screwing each other's brains out, but there was definitely a huge man lying on the forest floor covered in blood. "Shit," I whispered. This was going to fuck with my plans big time. His head turned towards me, and his eyes opened before a harsh grimace crossed his face.

"Henry," I whispered. Sadness filled my chest. Henry was dead now, as were Vera and her husband. The man grimaced again and another groan escaped his parted lips.

He looked so much like Henry with those dimples and dark, curly locks. When another pained groan spilled from his mouth, I made a decision. I wasn't going to kill Henry, as I decided to call him.

I rushed forward and fell to my knees beside the wounded man. He had three bullet holes in his chest and had already lost a lot of blood. The wounds were fresh, maybe less than an hour old. Which meant someone else was probably in the forest with us. I needed to be doubly cautious.

Thoughts streamed rapidly in and out of my mind. How was I going to get him back to the commune? There was no way I was going to be able to carry him and dragging him wasn't very plausible. He wasn't going to be able to move on his own either. I needed to stop the bleeding. Looking around I spotted some moss several paces away. I leapt up and grabbed large handfuls before rushing back to Henry. I placed some moss on the bullet hole in his right shoulder and pressed down with my right hand. With my left, I dropped some on the hole several inches below his heart and placed some more on the wound just below his sternum. My left elbow put pressure on the injury below his heart as my hand slapped down to cover the last wound.

Henry's deep blue eyes stared intently into mine. "Sweet angel," he whispered.

"Hush," I told him. The bleeding was slowly beginning to stop, and after a while I let up on the pressure. "I'll be right back," I assured him before racing off to find some spider webs. About fifty yards away I spotted a large web. I cringed; I hated bugs, especially spiders. My hand tentatively stretched forward and paused inches away. I took a deep breath and quickly pulled out a handful of the web. My feet sped over the ground as I raced back to Henry.

Once I reached him, I got down beside him, removed the moss, and put the web over his bullet wounds. He looked up at me, a question in his eyes. "It will help with the clotting," I said. The man nodded and closed his eyes, more groans issuing forth. My teeth pulled my lower lip into my mouth, and I began to chew vigorously on it. He needed to get those bullets out before he got lead poisoning or worse. All I had with me was my gun and the clothes I was wearing, not that I possessed the skills necessary to remove bullets. I needed to get him back to Carlisle and soon.

There was no way I could take him back the way I came; he would attract too much notice, not to mention his blood-stained clothes would draw unwanted attention…but wait…I quickly recalled the maps I had been forced to memorize. There was a satellite commune located somewhere beneath the forest. Now I just had to find the opening. Looking about, I rose from my knees and headed off into the forest after telling Henry I would be right back.

Most entryways were located near an obscure topographical landmark. The doors to the underground were incredibly difficult to find if you didn't know what to look for.

Up ahead I noticed three trees that if you turned your head just so, formed a right triangle. It was a good spot to hide an entrance considering that most people wouldn't be walking around a forest with their head cocked at a thirty-seven degree angle. After another quick check of the vicinity, I headed over to the tree closest to me. I rapped my hand against the gnarly wood. Nothing. I continued to inspect the tree and its fellows before moving onto the forest floor. This wasn't the entrance.

With a sigh I looked up and noticed the sun was beginning its slow descent. Time was running out, and I needed to get back to Henry and find the door. Otherwise, he would die from massive blood loss. I trudged back the way I had come, erasing any sign of my presence.

Henry had passed out from the pain by the time I got back. Sadly, I sank down beside him and brushed his curls back from his forehead. Even unconscious, he continued to grimace in pain. Gently, I traced the contours of his face, spending several seconds lingering on the dimples that dotted his cheeks. He looked so much like baby Henry.

I rose tiredly to my feet. If I was going to save him, I needed to get my ass into gear. The door wouldn't be anywhere near the edges of the forest. Part of what made my mission so dangerous was the excessive amounts of open space I had to travel through. The forest was surrounded by open land. That meant that the entryway had to be inside the forest. I just didn't know where.

Then it dawned on me. This little clearing was the perfect place for the doorway. It was hidden by large ferns and located deep within the forest. And even if someone did stumble into the clearing as Henry had apparently done, as evidenced by the trail of blood, they probably wouldn't think to look for the opening; much less think there was actually one here. Joyfully, I leapt to my feet.

There, three feet away was a rotting log from a tree felled long ago. It was blackened and small patches of dingy moss dotted its surface. While it looked more likely that an unsavory creature was making its home there, I would bet almost anything that it was the doorway to the commune. Several minutes later, with the help of a branch, I uncovered the doorway. A grin spread across my sweaty face; I had found a way in. However, I couldn't leave Henry up here and the hole uncovered while I went down to get some help. There was no way around it; I was going to have to push Henry through the hole. I gulped.

Generally speaking, to reach a commune you had to travel down a self-propelled elevator through two levels. The top level was about ten miles down and maybe some guards would be there. The second level was another six miles down. There would be guards there for sure and maybe even a few homes.

The lithosphere was about thirty miles deep and contained the crust and upper mantle. To take advantage of the heat of the earth, the resistance had to dig down into the upper mantle to hide their heat signatures. That meant that, typically, you had to travel about ten miles into the earth before you even got close to the commune. And another six before you reached the commune.

Henry was in no condition to climb. I was going to have to drop him down into the elevator, somehow get the log back over the opening, climb down into the elevator, get us to at least the first level, leave him, and go for help. All the while hoping that the fall hadn't further injured him too badly.

I went back to Henry and attempted to wake him, "Henry, I need you to wake up. You've lost a lot of blood and the bullets are still in you. I…found a medic, but we'll have to go to him. You just need to go down this hole and then he'll make you all better."

His blue eyes slowly focused on me. "Who's…Henry?"

"You, I guess."

"My…name's Emmett," he gasped, "Sweet angel."

"Emmett, please, can you help me get you over to that log?" I asked him.

"What…log? Sweet angel."

I could tell we weren't going anywhere anytime soon. Putting his left arm around my shoulders, I attempted to jerk him off the ground. I only succeeded in knocking myself down.

"Emmett, please. I need your help," I pleaded.

"All right, sweet angel." He slowly helped me get him off the forest floor. There would be no way to get rid of the blood he'd left on the ground. With painstaking progress, we finally made it over to the hole.

I maneuvered his body until his legs were through the opening. "We just need to go through here."

He nodded in response, and I managed to push his behemoth body through the hole. Several seconds later I heard his body hit the bottom of the elevator; I winced and followed down after him. I, however, climbed down.


	6. Chapter 6: Jasper

**Jasper's POV**

"We're almost there, Mary." I tucked the coat more firmly around her as we stood at a corner in the dirty city.

She smiled sweetly up at me. "I know, and it's Alice, remember?"

I shut my eyes in shame. "Right, right. I just need to get used to calling you that…Alice."

The little pixie smiled happily up at me again before tugging me along. We were several blocks from reaching our destination. Several blocks from the end of running. Several blocks from safety. Several blocks from a new life.

Our grey-cloaked bodies blended easily in with the rest of the mindless population that wandered aimlessly down the rubble-strewn streets. A baseball cap covered my blonde hair. We weren't supposed to exist anymore since blonde and redhead genes had slowly died out. A blonde child hadn't been born in close to ten years, a redhead in twelve.

Swiftly, and as inconspicuously as possible, I glanced around every few moments to make sure no one had taken notice of us. Even though we were thousands of miles away, I still feared we would be caught. And I couldn't let that happen. Couldn't let them get their hands on Mar – _Alice_, again.

We came upon the alleyway and gently faded into the blackness. Alice looked merrily around at our dismal surroundings while I located the hole we'd be going down. I removed the cover and looked down in the never-ending darkness. "Y'all have got to be kidding me," I muttered to myself, a black scowl on my face.

"Everything will be all right, Jasper." God, I was failing at my duties.

"I should be telling you that." Tenderly, I stroked her pale face and tried to hide my wince when I brushed my hand over her short hair. One day I was going to kill those bastards for the things they had done to her. "C'mon, we need to get moving."

I pulled her over to the hole. "I'll be right behind you, so don't worry," I instructed as she stepped down in the opening.

"Oh, Jasper, this is so exciting! Think of the adventure we're going on." She smiled at me before quickly descending and disappearing from sight. Wryly, I shook my head. Only my girl would be thrilled with the harrowing journey we were now bringing to a close.

With one last glance about, I climbed in and pulled the cover back over me before following Alice.

"Alice, where are you?" Frantically, I searched for her in the dark cavern we had ended up in.

"I'm right here, Jazz." Her hand found mine, and I pulled her into me. I clutched her small body to mine and pressed my lips to the wild spikes of her hair. She may not have mourned the loss of her hair, but I did. I had been having fantasies about her hair since I was fourteen and realized I loved her.

Many a night had been spent dreaming about her long, silky black hair spread across my pillow or my chest. Her hair had been her crowning glory. It had hung mere inches from her delectable backside and swayed side to side as she walked, simply bringing more attention to her glorious rear. Short locks had framed her elfin face, illuminating her large grey eyes. I was getting hard just thinking about it. A groan slipped from my mouth.

The little devil giggled and pressed a kiss to my chest. "Now's not the best time, Jazzy. Someone will be here in a couple of minutes."

"What?" I pulled her behind me, straining to see in the inky blackness.

"It's okay. They're here to help us. Aren't you, Edward?"

"Depends. How did you find us?" Just barely I could make out the silhouette of a tall, lean man.

It was time for me to take over. "We have our ways; don't worry, your location is still safe. We needed to get as far away from the Volturi as possible, and I'd heard rumors about the resistance. Never thought y'all would be underground though."

"The heat of the earth hides us…where are you from? I can't place your accent. The 'y'all' means you're from the South, possibly the Deep South. It's not an East Coast accent though, so that rules out the Chesapeake-Carolina Territory." Edward ruminated on our origins as my body remained tense, and Alice hummed softly behind me.

"You know, I'd feel a lot more comfortable if I could see who I was talking to," I snarled. This guy was seriously starting to piss me off. I'd already told him we were seeking sanctuary from the Volturi.

"Sorry." A match flared and light slowly began to fill the chamber. I looked around. An oil well ran along the length of the cavern's brick wall. "So, where are you two from?"

"Texas - Tejas. Where is everybody?" We were the only ones here. He laughed.

"Oh, we have a long way to go before we reach the commune," Alice commented and walked from around me. She headed confidently towards a rocky ledge.

"How'd you know that was the way down?" Great, now he was suspicious. Damn Mar – _Alice_ for not having a filter.

"I know lots of things." And with that she took a step and disappeared from view.

In a panic, I dashed over to the last place I'd seen her. "Alice!" Her spiky head popped back up.

"She's fine. We just made it look that way so that if anyone made it down here who wasn't supposed to be, they would think this level was it. The actual commune is another six miles down. We'll climb down to the elevator and then a shaft will take us the rest of the way down."

Cautiously, I looked over the edge. Indeed, there was a staircase carved into the rock. I took a deep breath and stepped down beside Alice. She grabbed my hand and pulled me along.

Edward followed after, shaking his head.

Alice had fallen asleep in the room we'd been given until a place for us to stay could be found. Quietly, I slipped from the room and went out into the living room where Edward was waiting for me. "Thanks for giving us a place to stay."

"No problem." He absently waved his hand, his gaze on the ground. "She's one of them, isn't she? One of the Lost Ones?"

"She's not lost." I wearily rubbed the back of my neck. This conversation was bound to happen after Alice's little stunt in the cavern.

"You know what I mean. She's clairvoyant. And don't think to lie to me. I'll throw you out faster than you can sneeze. I won't have anyone compromise the security of my city." Edward's steely, green gaze met my defiant blue one.

My jaw jerked angrily from side to side. "When she was sixteen she heard about this program. It was the most advanced and intriguing one in the country. So she convinced her parents to let her take the entrance exams. They were only too happy to get rid of her. They never liked that Mar – _Alice _knew things. I didn't want her to go. We'd never been separated in our lives." A harsh, grating laugh escaped from me.

"My mother said, 'Absence makes the heart grow fonder.' And so off she went. I would get a letter from her every month, telling me she was doing well, that she loved me and missed seeing me, but loved the school. Then one day she sent me a letter filled with spelling errors, and each letter after that was full of errors. One year after she started sending me these letters, I realized it was a code. All it said was 'save me.' And I knew I would give up my life to save her.

"So I told her parents and my parents, but they said I was just being silly and that it was selfish of me to want to keep Alice all to myself. I realized then that if I was going to rescue her that it would be completely upon me. I emptied out my parents' accounts and headed north. It took me a year and a half to figure out where they were keeping her and most of my parents' money to get her out. Then we headed west and used the rest of the money to find y'all." I finished my tale, shocked at how much I had said. I hadn't spoken that much in years. My mother had always said I was a man of few words. Taking in a deep breath, I looked up from the tile floor I had been studying.

Edward stared at me as though he was trying to look deep into my soul. "She'll be safe here." He nodded to himself and then headed towards the door, pausing at the threshold. "You can stay here for a few days, and I'll see what I can do about getting you a house."

"Well, I can't see any lasting damage. Her heart and lungs sound fine, her reflexes are good. She seems alert and well. Her hair will grow back at its own rate. There's nothing wrong with her that I can see or find," Dr. Cullen reassured me after looking over Alice, who sat swinging her legs.

"I think I like my hair this length, Jazz. It's so easy to take care of. I should have cut it years ago." She ran a hand through her short locks, setting them into further disarray. She did look rather cute with those spiky locks sticking up in all directions.

"Whatever you want, baby." I pressed a kiss into the palm of her hand.

"All I want is you." God, I loved this woman.


	7. Chapter 7: Alice

**Alice's POV**

Jazz thought he was so sneaky, but I knew what he was up to. I'd known for years that he was going to marry me.

When I was six, I had a vision of our wedding. There was lots of lace and ivory with hints of an icy, baby blue. My dress was form-fitting, gently following the shape of my breast and hips before flaring softly out just below. My long, black hair was covered by an elbow length mantilla veil with scalloped edging. I eagerly clutched a bouquet of white hydrangeas as I walked down the aisle towards my solemn groom.

But now, at the age of nineteen, my vision had changed. Our wedding wouldn't be the spectacle I had seen at the age of six, but a small ceremony bereft of flowers and family, along with the things you generally associate with weddings.

Jazz thought he was going to surprise me tonight when he took me to see the commander of the underground. He'd planned a little wedding for us because it went so strongly against his morals to continue our relationship outside of wedlock.

The day before I had left for the government school, I seduced him. He had planned to wait until we were married, the silly boy. Jasper hadn't suspected a thing when I had stopped by his house to say good-bye.

I never felt more alive than when I was with Jasper. He was the other half of my soul, and I had waited eight long years for him to realize that I was the other half of his. I didn't mind waiting, but I was so happy when he finally kissed me for the first time when I was fifteen.

When his lips had touched mine, a spark had run through me. Our lips seemed to merge together and when we had finally separated, we were breathing heavily, our cheeks pink as we looked at one another. Jasper had lunged at me and quickly sealed our lips together again. To say I had enjoyed our first kiss immensely would have been an understatement. It had been the best day of my life until we had moved on to . . . other things.

A smile danced across my mouth as I sat on the bed swinging my legs, careful not to crush the dress I had put on. Footsteps sounded just outside the door and my grin widened; Jasper was here to marry me.

"Damn," he breathed. "You know." A small giggle escaped. Of course I knew. "Well, c'mon. Commander Swan's waiting for us."

Daintily, I got up and went over to Jasper. His warm, blue gaze met mine as his arms wrapped around my little body and pulled me into his chest. "I love you," I whispered into the fabric covering his muscled torso.

"Not as much as I love you," he said into my hair, squeezing me tightly. "I'm never letting you go, ever again."

"That seems a little severe." Never had I seen a man as handsome as Jasper. Honey-blonde hair fell into his beautiful blue eyes, eyes that our children would have. His tall body was muscular but lean. He towered a good fifteen inches over me; meaning he was always leaning down to me, and I was always stretching up to him.

"Not after what happened. I don't think I could take it if I lost you." He bent down, and I stretched up onto my tiptoes so he could brush a soft kiss on my lips. Quickly, I wrapped my arms around his neck, keeping him locked to me.

Our kisses intensified and our breath began to rush and pant into the other's mouth. Minutes later, Jasper dragged my arms from around his neck and pulled me once more to his chest. "Stop distracting me. I need to get you to Commander Swan; I don't want to postpone this any longer. It's time to make you mine for all to see."

I smiled up at him, "I don't think anyone's ever doubted that, Jazz."

Edward led Jasper and me to something they called the Cerebrum where Commander Swan was waiting for us.

Smiling, I stepped forward to introduce myself. "Hello, I'm Alice Brandon and this is Jasper Whitlock."

"Charlie Swan." A man of few words, just like my Jasper.

"How's your daughter Bella?"

Charlie jerked back and went rigid. "How do you know about Bella?"

"She's one of the Lost Ones, Charlie," Edward offered as way of explanation.

"She's not lost," Jasper gritted out. I gently patted his arm and gave Charlie another smile.

Some of the rigidity left Charlie's body as he assessed me. "I can assure you that I am no threat."

Charlie slowly nodded his head. "Right . . . well, why don't we get to what you two came down here for. Jasper, if you will stand over there and Alice, right next to him; all right…"

As I had envisioned, it was not the beautiful ceremony I had foreseen at the age of six, but I didn't need all of that pomp and circumstance. All I really wanted was Jasper and that was exactly what I was getting.

Ten minutes later I was officially Mrs. Jasper Whitlock. As Jasper leaned down to kiss me, I could see a huge grin splitting his face from ear to ear. A soft giggle escaped me just before his lips came down on mine. Even though he was gentle, I could feel the tension riding behind the kiss. Jasper was obviously anxious to get us back to our rooms and finally claim me as his wife.

We quickly said our good-byes and headed back, both of us eager to consummate our union. I pulled him down to me and whispered in his ear, "Jasper, I'd really like a little boy with your eyes."

He jolted up and looked at me with wide, hungry eyes. I smiled a little, teasing smile at him and began to sashay down the corridor. He swiftly picked me up and ran back to our rooms as I unbuttoned his shirt.

"You're being awfully slow, Jazz."

He tossed me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and sprinted the remaining few yards.

I waved laughingly at the hidden camera, sure that Edward and Charlie were getting an eyeful.

I woke up with a gasp, shooting upright in our bed. A quick glance at the clock showed that I had only been asleep for a couple of hours. Sweat trickled down my temples as my chest heaved in and out. Slowly, I lay back down before curling into a quivering ball. As quietly as possible, I sucked in huge, gulping breaths. Apparently, I wasn't quiet enough because Jasper leaned groggily over me.

"Babe, what's the matter? Did you have another vision?" Sleep roughened his voice, deepening the timbre.

"I-I need to speak with Edward."

Jasper turned on the lamp and rolled me over so he could look into my eyes. Several seconds passed and he nodded before climbing from the bed and pulling on some pants. He stalked into the hallways and was gone for several minutes before returning and pulling me into his arms, cradling me like a baby.

"Did you get him?" He hadn't been gone long enough to find Edward.

"I just went into the corridor and told that camera I needed to speak with Edward," he comforted me, rocking tenderly back and forth and brushing soft kisses to my forehead.

"You know, that camera is supposed to be hidden," Edward commented from the doorway.

I turned and looked at him. "Well, you did a sucky job of hiding it."

"What did you need to speak with me about?"

"A commune is going to be attacked. I don't know when and I don't know where, but I know that it's going to happen sometime soon."

"How do you know this?" Edward quietly asked, a savage look coming into his eyes.

"Alice's visions are subjective; as people make decisions her visions change," Jasper explained, rubbing his hands up and down my arms.

"You just had this vision…" Edward trailed off, looking intently at me.

"Meaning that the decision to attack the commune was only just made."

"Fuck," Edward softly said, his head jerked back up. "Sorry."

"It's all right. I think you described the situation perfectly."

"Can you tell me any details about the commune you saw? Maybe we can figure out which one it is from clues," Edward suggested.

I nodded; it was worth a try. Quickly, I scrambled out of Jasper's arms and sat down on the side of the bed and closed my eyes. The vision sped back into my view. "Lots of corridors, all hard packed dirt, torches run along the walls, lighting the way-"

"You're describing every commune in the U.S."

"I haven't seen any other distinguishing features!" I exclaimed, my eyes snapping open. Edward shot me an apologetic look, and I let my eyes slide close once more. "There's lots of purple in the walls-"

"What kind of purple?"

"It looks like really pale amethysts…wait a second; the walls seem to glow when the light hits it…"

I opened my eyes and looked at Edward; he turned and walked from the room. Jasper looked closely at me and got up to follow.

Edward was standing next to one of the dirt walls. He pulled out a pack of matches and lit one. The sulfur end flared brightly, lighting up the wall and revealing the phantom quartz.

"It looks like we're under attack," he commented before blowing out the dwindling match and walking away.

Jasper turned to look at me. "Shit."

I only nodded my head. Just when we thought we had reached safety, we find out we're going to be blown to smithereens.


	8. Chapter 8: Rosalie

**Rosalie's POV**

I could barely make out the hulking shape of Emmett's body in the deep darkness that consumed the elevator shaft. Quickly, I scooted over to him, wincing as sharp fragments of rock bit into my knees and palms. As I rolled him over in the small space, he let out a pain filled groan and I cringed. "I'm so sorry, Emmett. It was the only way I could get you down here."

There was no way I could check him over visually in the dark, so I began to run my hands over his body, checking for new injuries. His head appeared to be fine, as did his arms and torso, except for the bullet wounds. I moved on to his legs, starting at his ankles and working my way up. His left leg was broken, it wasn't a greenstick break where the bone punctures the skin, but it was trouble nonetheless. Gently, I continued my exploration up his leg and when I reached his thigh, his hand clamped down on my wrist.

Squinting, I tried to make out his expression but couldn't make anything out. I could probably wave my hand in front of my face and not be able to see anything. "Emmett, it's all right. I'm just checking you for more wounds."

"Knew…you wanted…a piece of…me," he panted. My eyes widened in shock and disgust, he was joking, right? My left hand darted across his body and ripped his hand from my wrist, a sharp crack sounded in the empty cavern. "Oww!"

"Whoops." _That's right, fucker, don't mess with me!_ I could feel his eyes seeking mine out in the pitch black, but I stood up and felt blindly for the thick line that would be anchoring the lift. The cool metal of the cable met my fingertips and I checked the fit of my gloves before unwinding the heavy rope from the rock wall. Slowly, I moved the cable through my hands, one over the other, and lowered us steadily down until we hit the rocky ground below. Vibrations echoed through the cage when we reached the bottom and I quickly exited the elevator, intent on finding someone who could help us. Regardless of Emmett's atrocious manners, he needed medical attention.

"You…can't just break…my wrist and walk off!"

"Don't fret, I'll be back." _You deserve to wait, alone, in the dark, for help._

Most of the communes had similar layouts, so there should be a hidden staircase somewhere nearby. I slowly felt my way along a damp, cold, slime-covered wall; I didn't want to find the staircase on accident as I was tumbling down it. Carefully, I stretched out my right hand and patted something warm and vaguely flesh-like. My lungs stopped working. Cautiously, I explored the smooth expanse in front of me, not wanting to accept what my mind was telling me.

"Enjoying yourself?" a deep voice whispered.

Shrieking, I jumped back, falling painfully onto my hip. Emmett began shouting as the sound of shuffling feet filled the room.

A torch was lit and gradually the room began to fill with light. I looked up into the face of the man who had spoken. It felt as though I had to tip my head as far back as it would go before I met his eyes. "You're Indian." _That couldn't be possible. The Volturi killed them all._

"No? Really?"

I swear this whole commune was taking HGH. That's the only explanation for their size. I stared in awe and disbelief at the two giant men casually carting an insensible Emmett down the path, as though he weighed nothing. They were fucking _huge_. And it wasn't just them. It was _all_ of them. Everyone that I had seen so far down here was freaking massive. I couldn't even begin to imagine having to give birth to one of them. They probably popped out at a whopping twelve pounds. Most likely after the first one, they just walked out. The picture of a giant baby, complete with a little blue baby bonnet and bib, strolling out of my poor uterus popped into my head; a cringe escaped.

"What's the matter, Blondie?" one of them questioned. I looked to my left. It was the one who had mocked me for saying he was an Indian earlier. "Does our '_nativeness'_ offend you?"

I scowled. "No." _Jerk_.

"Then what's with the look on your face?"

"What look?" _What a fuckhead_.

"The one that looks like you smell something bad; that one."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." _Go fuck off, jackass._

"Right," he scoffed. I just shot an angry stare at him in response. He was one of those people that just annoyed me upon my first sight of him. I was in need of help and he had to nerve to hassle me.

"Jacob, leave her alone," one of the men carrying Emmett instructed.

"That's right, Jacob, leave me alone. Now, be a good boy and go to your master." He snarled at me and jogged to reach the front of the group. I could feel a small smile fighting its way onto my lips. There was something sweet in getting a hit on Jacob. The boy was good looking with all that bronze skin and flowing hair, but his attitude sucked.

We continued to walk for fifteen more minutes before I began to tire. I had been moving most of the day and the struggle to get Emmett down here had greatly depleted my strength. "Are we almost there?" I called up.

"Getting tired, princess?" Jacob laughed.

"Oh, fuck off, gigantor!"

"Jacob," the man, who was obviously in charge, warned. Jacob glared and stalked further ahead to join two other large boys with long hair. "My name is Sam, by the way. And we should reach the infirmary shortly. The trees presented a bit of a problem when it came to building. Their roots went down far enough to cause issues and so we are more spread out than most communes."

I had never thought about that. "Right."

We continued to trek down the pathway and I took the time to look the commune over. Their lighting was more primitive than ours as they still used wooden torches as their main form of illumination. However, someone, or several someone's, had taken the time to paint scenes on the rock walls. It was nice; it added a homey feel that my commune lacked. To be honest, my commune had more the feeling of a military base than a home. Then again, it was a military base – the head of operations of the Resistance. Large murals of wolves covered vast stretches of the walls. Some were scenes of a wolf pack on the hunt, others of cubs playing in tall grass. One scene particularly grabbed my attention. A lone wolf stood off to the side, watching forlornly over its shoulder as the rest of the pack settled down together for the night.

I felt a strange connection with this mural . . . I've been so lonely since I came to the commune. It's not that I'm alone, but it's like I'm standing in a crowded room and yet, I'm lonely. Like I'm not really there, and maybe I'm not. The depressing turn my thoughts had taken suddenly veered when I realized Sam had asked me a question. Quickly, I answered and continued on.

Several minutes later we passed through the doors of the infirmary. "Finally, someone normal!" I exclaimed upon seeing the petite doctor at the back of the room. All eyes turned to me. "What? Have you _not_ noticed the fact that you're freakishly large and could put Andrei the Giant to shame?"

Faintly, I could hear someone snarl. The doctor stepped forward. "Hello, my name is Emily. Why don't you boys put him on one of the beds so I can take a look at him?" A gasp slipped from my lips as she stepped enough into the light that I could make out her face.

She raised her hand to touch the scars, but jerked to a stop as she realized what she was doing. Slowly, her hand fell back to her side. "Sometimes I forget that they're there," she quietly said and turned to take a look at Emmett.

The pack of men all glared at me, but Sam the most. Guiltily, I turned my eyes to the ground. My life had been tough, but at least my scars were internal. Livid red marks streaked across the entire right side of her face. They were thick and sat heavily on her otherwise smooth skin.

"Broken femur, fractured wrist, possible concussion, three gunshot wounds," Emily called out as she examined the unconscious Emmett.

"I found him wounded in the forest," I offered with a quick glance at Emily.

"Right, he did that to himself," a voice darkly muttered with disbelief.

"Look, I know I probably broke his leg and wrist, but I did not shoot him!"

"If you can't say anything nice, then I'm going to have to ask you all to leave," Emily quietly informed the room with a stern glance in the boys' direction. The boys, if they could be called that, shuffled from the small room with threatening mutters and mean glances.

After they left, I scanned the room. Essentially, it was like the main commune, but there were subtle differences. Though the room was well lit, it was still dimmer than most of the rooms back home. The corridors had been much wider, with fewer torches to light the way. Anyone who was not a member of the commune would have easily gotten lost.

"So, how long have you all been down here?" I ventured once my perusal of the room was finished. I felt badly about my reaction to her scars and wanted to smooth things over.

"We came down here about six months after the Volturi came into power." My head shot up in surprise. That meant they had been down here longer than the main commune, possibly most of the other communes too.

"Why did you head down so soon? Most of us didn't realize anything bad about the Volturi until a year and a half after they took over."

"Sam killed one of their members," Emily softly stated, a sadness filling her voice, as she removed one of the bullets from Emmett's chest. "Could you come over here and apply pressure?"

Quickly, I joined her at the examination table. With care, I placed my hands on the wound just below his heart. I could feel each forceful beat pounding steadily through his large chest. Silence reigned for several moments as she finished removing the bullets, their gentle, metallic pings echoing through the room as she dropped them in a dish. "So Sam killed a member of the Volturi?"

"Yes . . . they came to take some of us into 'protective custody;' I was one of them. I knew they really wanted us for experimentation and I fought them when they tried to take me. I injured one of them and the other one just went crazy. He threw me down on the ground and pulled out a knife and started to cut my face. Sam saved me . . . the tribe decided it was time to head underground then," Emily told me, never meeting my eyes.

My breathing became harsh and labored as memories rushed over me. It wasn't Emily being thrown to the ground and held down now, her oxygen cut off, it was me.

It was me fighting off a member of the Volturi as they landed blow after blow to my body; it was me being brutally attacked and savaged. Only there was no one to save me, no one to witness what was taking place.

Emily's deep brown eyes met mine and her small russet hand gently settled over mine. "You're safe now," she whispered. Sweat beaded at my hairline and my hands clenched reflexively under hers. Jerkily, I nodded. Knowledge filled her gaze. "You were attacked by the Volturi too."

I pulled my hands from under hers; no longer focusing on stopping Emmett's bleeding. Keeping my eyes averted, I replied, "They were teaching my family a lesson. That it was unwise to go against them. I come . . . came from a powerful family in New York . . . or what was New York.

"One night I was walking home and someone grabbed me and tossed me into a van. I remember it being too dark to see their faces before they pressed this funny smelling cloth over my mouth and nose. I thought they were trying to suffocate me before I passed out. When I woke up, we were in the middle of nowhere. That was the first time they raped me and beat me. I remember thinking, 'God, this can't get any worse.' I was so wrong. They raped me and beat me again, then threw me out of the van like I was no more than a piece of garbage.

"They happened to dump me next to the entrance to the main commune. Edward found me when he was sneaking back down. He saved my life; I should have died, but he saved me and sometimes I'm not so sure I'm glad he did. The only thing I'm glad about is that I got my revenge. Those stupid bastards thought I was going to die and let me see their faces before they got rid of me. I tracked them down and killed every last one of them," I stoically told her, all emotion gone from my face as I met her gaze. It was the only way I could recount the event, completely without emotion.

"Then we understand each other."

"Yes, I would say we do." A small smile graced my mouth. There were not many people who understood me, but Emily did; she knew exactly what I had been through.

"Now, if you could help me with our patient, I'll try and get you out of here as quickly as possible. I'm sure you need to return to your commune."

"Thank you. It is nice to see that not all of you down here are complete assholes."

A great, bubbly laugh escaped Emily. "Thank you, I think."

"Good morning, beautiful, how was your night? Mine was wonderful with you by my side," Emmett hoarsely sang as I woke up feeling as though some creature had died in my mouth during the night. My neck hurt from sleeping in a chair and I'm sure my hair was going six ways to Sunday.

"Oh my, God, shut the fuck up or I swear to God I'll break something else," I grumpily stated, lifting my head from the bed.

We'd been down here for almost three days and it was evident that Emmett was well on his way to getting better. He daily serenaded me to the amusement of the entire commune, which had ventured bit by bit to see the "pale faces" in their infirmary.

And he didn't just serenade me. He told me just how perfect my breasts were, as well as how impeccably formed my ass was. Then, he went on to tell me that he and I would make gorgeous babies; there was no way we couldn't, as we were both two such gorgeous people.

To say that I had almost castrated him numerous times would be an understatement. I was ready to rip his balls off and shove them down his throat. There was no way he was like baby Henry. Baby Henry was the sweetest little angel I had ever met and Emmett's resemblance to him ended with the physical.

"You know, I can hear your ovaries just screaming for me to fertilize them," he lazily commented with a stupid grin on his face, his curls falling boyishly over his forehead.

"I should have let you die."

"Tsk, tsk, so violent. Don't worry, I like that. I bet you're a real spitfire in bed." I wanted to slap that stupid smile right off his mouth. If he weren't so badly injured I would have beaten him to a pulp by now.

"Fuck off," I instructed him standing from the chair I had been sleeping in. Inexplicably, I had spent every night since we had been here at his bedside. It was like something in me was pulling me towards this infuriating man.

"I might need a little help since you broke the wrist I normally jerk off with." My eyes narrowed in anger and my fist clenched, prepared to drive right into his fat, happy face. "Damn, you're even sexier when you're pissed!"

"Jump off a cliff and _die_," I seethed. Ooh, did I want to kill this motherfucker. The innuendos never stopped.

Fuming, I stalked from the room, but not before hearing him tell the entering Jacob, that jackass, "She wants me so bad, she can barely keep her pants on when I'm in the room." The two idiots immediately fell into gales of laughter.

We were leaving tonight, so I only had to put up with Jacob for several more hours and Emmett until we reached the commune. Then, I was handing him off to Edward and washing my hands of the bastard.


	9. Chapter 9: Edward

**Edward's POV**

Rosalie had been gone for close to a week now. The mission should have taken her three days at the most. I was getting mildly concerned; this was very unlike her. Slowly, I paced the length of the Frontal Center. Where the fuck could she be?

Fuck being mildly concerned, I was getting pissed at her, and fast. This was probably some fancy little stunt she was pulling to get back at me for the little spat we had before she left. This _was_ exactly like her, always having to have the last word, whether it be spoken or not.

A light began flashing on the control board; someone had entered the underground. Briskly, I left the Frontal Center and headed to the Occipital Center. My gaze focused in on a hulking mass slowly traversing the southern corridor. I squinted my eyes, trying to make out just what the shape was. A lock of golden hair gleamed in the light. _Rosalie_. But who was with her? She was a tall girl, but nothing like the behemoth mass making its way towards the commune. Could she have been captured by the Volturi and forced to lead them here?

That was unlikely, considering Rosalie's stance on being held captive; simply put, she didn't believe in such a thing. You killed yourself before getting captured. Which meant that whomever she was helping down the corridor, she was helping of her own volition.

Suddenly, she thrust the meaty object that I now realized was an arm off of her shoulder. The person, or rather two rather large persons, crashed to the ground, laughing. Faintly, I could hear one of them groaning as he laughed. "Find your own fucking way to the infirmary, asshole," she snarled before stalking away.

"Rosie, baby, wait!" one man called out; he was pale with thick, curly black hair framing his youthful face. The other man, darker and bigger, laughed even harder.

Rosalie, who had left the frame of camera seven and ventured into camera six, stalked back into view of camera seven. "Which leg is broken again?" she sweetly asked. Uh oh, nothing good came from Rosalie's sweet and innocent tone.

"This one," the pale giant pointed at his left leg.

Rosalie nodded and slammed her foot into his leg. "Fuck off!"

"Ow! I can't believe you would hit a wounded man!" He sulked and almost looked as if he was going to cross his arms belligerently and pout.

"Grab my breast again, and I'll kick you where it'll really hurt."

"You'd only be hurting yourself in the process, love." That stupid bastard must have taken a hard blow to the head to be speaking to her that way. Only someone fucking crazy would provoke her that way.

The other man's loud barking laugh cut in on my thoughts. Rosalie fumed impotently in front of the two morons. I decided that was my cue to head down there. Obviously one of them was in need of medical attention, and if Rosalie had her way, he would probably require a testicle retrieval.

Something wasn't right, but I couldn't put my finger on it. All I knew was that something was off. I slowed my pace to a crawl and diligently began scanning the area around me. Even with the wall sconces, it was very dark. Instead of squinting my eyes and forcing them to focus, I let them relax, and the dark pathway became clear. Silently, I crept forward.

I could faintly make out hushed whispers just around the bend. "...time to leave . . . once . . . inform them of the location . . . oblivion." It wasn't a voice I recognized; tinged with the slightest accent, almost indiscernible to the untrained ear. I knew every occupant of this commune, and the person speaking was not one of them.

I snuck closer and plastered my body against the rough rock wall. "How long do we have?" _James?_

"Tomorrow I will go topside and radio in the coordinates. After that, who knows how long till they arrive." _Who were 'they'? The Volturi?_ Carefully, I slid further along the wall until I was mere inches from the group.

"How will we leave without anyone noticing and suspecting something?" _Victoria, of course_. Where James went, Victoria went.

"That is for you to figure out. I have done my job, and now you must complete yours." The stranger's head suddenly jerked up.

I could hear a tripping gait making its way towards the trio from the opposite direction, I knew of only one person who walked so clumsily. In the few weeks she had been here, my hearing had focused on the sound of her walk, her voice, her every breath. Bella was about to intrude on the wrong group of people.

The dangerous trio sank into the deep shadows and waited for her to pass. Just as she came upon their location, she went down. A sharp expletive escaped my mouth. Now was not the time for Bella to fall.

"Dang it," she muttered, sitting back on her heels and examining her palms. She stood up and headed closer to one of the sconces, trying to better examine her scraped hands. Slowly, her head rose. "Laurent?"

Laurent stepped into the light, a small smile on his ebony face. "Hello, Bella, how are you?" he politely questioned, as if he had every right to be here.

"I . . . I'm fine, but I thought . . . I thought..." she trailed off in confusion.

"Thought you were the only survivor? No, I survived too. Though if your mother hadn't dug that secret little hidey-hole of yours, you would be dead. And my mission would be complete."

"Mission?" Bella parroted, bewilderment spread all over her face.

"Yes, don't you see, _petite chère_? I was to kill you," he explained, a savage grin gracing his face, making the contrast of his white teeth against his dark face all the more sinister.

"Kill me? Why?"

"To stop your father, of course."

"My father?"

"Yes, he has become quite the nuisance to the Volturi." Laurent had gradually cornered her against the far wall and now had her pinned.

"But . . . but, I don't understand," she whispered, fear etched in every feature.

"Don't you? If you were to die--your father's only, precious child, the last tie to the woman he loves--he would be broken, crushed, shattered. And so consumed by grief he wouldn't be able to continue on. The only reason he's fighting against the Volturi is so that you'll have a 'better' life; if you were to die, then all his plans would mean nothing."

Laurent's hands slowly came to rest against Bella's porcelain throat, his thumb whispering over her Adam's apple, and my body burst into action. I had learned all I was going to. Swiftly, I leapt forward and ripped Bella from Laurent's grip. I threw her away from me and screamed for her to run. Quickly, I spun around and smashed my fist into Laurent's face before ramming him into the wall. I whipped around and grabbed James by the throat and began bashing his head into the floor. The gun he had kept trained on Bella through the whole conversation skidded across the stone floor, landing somewhere in the shadows.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Victoria take off down the corridor, heading for the only exit. For now, she could run. My only thought was to kill the men who had threatened Bella so recently. I continued to smash James' head into the floor as my fist pummeled any body part I could reach.

"Hey, a tussle!" I heard someone exclaim, and Rosalie and her motley crew came into sight. Rosalie bounded off after Victoria as the large, uninjured man leapt across me to tackle Laurent.

Ten minutes later, he had to pry me from James' mangled, bloody body. "I think he's dead, man," he softly told me, pulling me forcefully away. I sank down and stared at my bloody hands as I panted, adrenaline still rushing through my body. Little by little I regained control.

Cautiously, I stood up. "Go about twenty paces to your right and ask that reinforcements be sent down immediately." The man nodded and trotted off to do as I asked. I walked over to the large man sitting against the wall, pouting.

"Man, I'm so pissed! I just missed an awesome fight." He pouted, his lower lip jutting out.

"And you are?" I questioned, exhausted. I'd had enough excitement for one day.

"Emmett McCarty. Nice to meet you." He grinned up at me, offering his hand. Gingerly, I shook it.

"Did Rosalie do this to you?" I asked, indicating his battered form.

"Just the leg . . . and the wrist . . . and the concussion."

"That all?" I smirked.

"Yeah, I can tell she wants me bad." This guy was delusional. The only males I had seen Rosalie act kindly towards were Dr. Cullen and Charlie.

"Fuck off! I should have left you for dead!" Rosalie exclaimed from behind me. Emmett flashed me a big grin. The fucker had known she was standing behind me when he'd said that.

I brought her back to the current situation. "Did you catch Victoria?"

"Clean up on aisle three." She grinned smugly, bloodlust shining in her eyes.


	10. Chapter 10: Bella

**Bella's POV**

_Oh, God, he was alive. He was here_. The moment my eyes landed on Laurent, I knew he was the reason I was here; the reason my mother was dead and my life turned upside down. My heart began to hammer, frantically pounding blood through my quivering body.

I could feel my hands shaking as he purposely drove me into the wall. This was it. I was going to die. I had somehow escaped my fate in the Desert Cactus commune, but no longer.

It was as his hands settled around my neck that I realized I didn't want to die. I wanted so badly to live. Nothing would be accomplished with my death, except for defeat, and I couldn't let that happen. My father had fought for fifteen long years to remove the Volturi from power so I would have a better life, and I wasn't going to let him down now when I was most needed. My body tensed to flee when I was suddenly ripped from Laurent's grasp and flung down the corridor. I landed roughly on my hands, further scraping them. Quickly, I scrambled to my feet.

"Run, Bella! Go!" Edward screamed at me, a savage look on his face. I stumbled backwards, away from the man who had just saved my life. The look on his face had been so visceral, so primitive, and it shook me to my very core. It was in that moment that I realized he had claimed me. His green eyes had burned with possession and fury - fury that anyone would dare try to take me from him.

I turned and fled in a panic. I was no longer running from Laurent; I was running from Edward.

I ran until my lungs burned with the need for oxygen and my legs trembled with exhaustion. A great sob escaped my throat, and I fell one final time. Gingerly, sobs still pouring from me, I crawled over to the shadowy wall and curled up against its cool strength. I gently rocked myself back and forth, my arms gripped tightly around my legs, my head tucked into my knees. My palms burned with fiery insistence, refusing to let me drift off into oblivion. Slowly, my sobs turned to soft whimpers and then to silence. Dazed, I sat staring into the inky darkness that surrounded me.

Maybe it was minutes, maybe it was hours later, but I heard someone calling my name, searching for me. I recognized the voice immediately: Edward.

My breathing picked up, and I sat up straight. Quickly, I wiped my cheeks of any remaining tears, grateful that the darkness would cover my weakness. I carefully plastered myself against the wall, hoping he would pass me by. It was a ridiculous hope; his eagle eyes easily located me in the darkness.

"Bella, there you are. I've been looking for you for the past thirty minutes, why didn't you respond?" He crouched down by me and began running his hands over my shivering limbs.

"I – I'm all right," I huskily whispered, pushing down the alarming sensations his touch caused.

"I'm sure you are, but I would still like to make sure. We need to get you to Carlisle and he can confirm."

I didn't want to go to Carlisle. As nice as the man was, he would know that while I didn't have any physical injuries, other than scraped palms and knees, I definitely had some psychological and emotional injuries, most of them stemming from Edward and the sudden change in our relationship.

Cautiously, I raised my eyes to meet Edward's. His hands slowly stopped their brisk inspection of my body and finally settled on my thighs. Time seemed suspended as our gazes locked and we took in each other.

My lips began to tremble and a soft curse escaped his mouth. His hands flew up to cup my face as his mouth swooped down to claim my lips.

To say that Edward's mouth erased every other who had come before him would be an understatement. The tentative kisses of other boys were nothing in comparison to the possession Edward was laying on my mouth.

His hands cupped my jaw tenderly as he crushed his mouth to mine. There was nothing soft about the kiss; he was making sure I knew I was his, and it frightened me. As if he knew I was scared, the kiss became tender and soon he pulled away to rest his forehead against mine, panting softly.

His thumb whispered lightly over my cheekbone as our breathing settled. He pressed tender kisses to my head as he lifted me up in his arms. A small whimper of protest escaped me; I wanted to stay in the dark where my confusing thoughts and emotions could run free. "Shhh, Bella," he hushed me, tucking my head into his shoulder.

Wearily, I shut my eyes against now encroaching thoughts and let him carry me back to the commune. I would deal with this another day; now was not the time.

"Hello," a little voice chirped as I groggily came to. My eyes carefully blinked open and I took in my surroundings; I was back in my room at Charlie's. Slowly, I sat up, hugging the covers to my chest.

"Hello," my voice scratched. I winced at the sound.

"I've got some water right here for you," she offered, handing me a cup.

"Thanks," I said after chugging most of the glass.

"You really should just accept that you're his and he's yours."

I choked on the sip I had taken. When I could finally drag in a breath, I turned startled eyes to the small woman by my bed. Large grey eyes that stared back at me without guile or artifice dominated her Elvin face.

"I'm Alice and we're going to be great friends."

"Um, that's, um, nice," I stuttered. This girl was really throwing me off.

An impish smile decorated her face. "What did you mean I should just accept things?" I couldn't help but ask.

"There's really no use fighting it."

"Fighting what?"

"Your destiny."

"My destiny?"

An exasperated sigh slipped from Alice's mouth. "Yes, you and Edward are destined to be together."

"I am not destined to be with Edward." _It was true; spending too much time underground could make you go crazy._

"See, even your resolution right now changes nothing," she explained, a faraway look in her eyes.

"Okay. I'm going to go take a shower now…" I sat there awkwardly, waiting for the girl to leave.

"Actually, Charlie instructed me to keep you in bed for the rest of the day."

I wanted to bang my head against the wall. Charlie had stuck me in here with some loony. "I'm a big girl; I really don't need any supervision."

Alice just grinned back at me. With a scowl, I sank down into my pillows.

"Would you like for me to read to you?"

"No." Maybe if I sat here long enough, she would get bored and leave.

Forty minutes later, I was bored.

"So, how long have you been down here?" I timidly asked.

"Not long, a few weeks at most." _Wow, she went crazy fast_.

"Do you still want to read?" Anything to take my mind off the situation.

"Sure! I've got my old copies of Vogue with me," she exclaimed. My face fell, and I'm sure a grimace flashed across it. "Or I could read one of your books."

"I don't have any, they were all destroyed in the bombing," I calmly explained.

"Oh, that's right. Well, Edward gave me some books to read to you. How do you feel about Wuthering Heights?"

_How did he know that was one of my favorite books?_ Eyes wide, I nodded my head. Alice happily clapped her hands and pulled the book from a bag by her feet.

_This was turning into a very strange day…wait, what day was it?_

Quickly, I interrupted Alice, "What is the date today?"

"It's the twenty-eighth," Alice peered at me curiously. "You've only been asleep for a little over twelve hours. When Edward returned with you, you were asleep; that was yesterday."

With a sigh of relief, I laid back down. I was tired of missing large gaps of time.

Alice began reading again and I quietly listened. Her voice sounded like a gently blowing wind, calm and comforting. Maybe she wasn't that crazy, maybe I was just being judgmental.

Again, I interrupted her, "Alice, why do you say that I am destined to be with Edward?"

"Because I saw it." And with that, she returned to the book.

Nope, I was right. She was crazy as a bed bug.


	11. Chapter 11: Jasper

**Jasper's POV**

Something was making me extremely uncomfortable. I felt myself squirming and twitching, trying to get comfortable. Nervously, I paced back and forth in the hall outside our rooms, trying to calm myself. Agitation continued to course through me as I began to wander farther and farther down the hall.

I needed to find Alice. Quickly, I stalked farther down, searching for Commander Swan's apartments. With ease, I was able to find them and I hesitated before knocking.

Edward had returned yesterday with a sleeping Bella in his arms. Commander Swan had been frantic until Edward had convinced him that she had simply fallen asleep and nothing had been wrong with her, other than a few scrapes and bruises from her multiple falls.

As much as I needed Alice's soothing embrace, I hated to disturb Bella if she was resting. Nothing had been easy for her since she'd arrived here. Alice had almost nightly visions regarding Bella; I felt as though I knew her. Finally, my fist landed on the oaken door. _Thud._

Alice quickly answered the door. "Jazz! What are you doing here?"

I ran a restless hand through my hair and across my forehead. "I needed to see you; something's wrong."

Her small arms slipped about my waist, and I pulled her petite body up against mine, relishing the warmth that seeped through our clothes. "Here, you can come keep Bella company with me. She thinks I'm crazy," she whispered with a large grin. Only Alice would find that to be a compliment, never content to just be normal. And with a graceful spin she grabbed my hand and led me down the hall.

Surprisingly, my anxiety hadn't lessened upon seeing Alice. I soon discovered the reason. Bella Swan sat up in her bed with her arms crossed belligerently across her chest, a small frown marring her face, creating a crease between her brows.

"Don't do that; you'll get wrinkles," Alice instructed, walking over to the bed and using a forefinger to smooth out the groove. Bella simply frowned harder.

"I'm perfectly fine; I don't need to be kept in bed like an invalid!" I stifled a smile; someone was a difficult patient. "And don't you smirk at me, stork boy." My smile disappeared. Never mind a difficult patient, someone was downright cranky.

Alice _tsk_ed and gently patted Bella's shoulder before settling down in the chair by the bed.

"Who are you anyways," Bella grumbled, settling deeper into the bed to pout.

"Jasper Whitlock, ma'am, I'm Alice's husband." I enjoyed the expression that crossed her face as her large doe eyes darted swiftly from me to Alice and back to me.

Alice's sweet laugh tinkled out as she realized what Bella was thinking. A blush spread across Bella's pale face and neck.

"Sorry," she mumbled. "I just don't like being cooped up."

"Then you're livin' in the wrong place, darlin'," I drawled, thickening my accent.

Bella sighed, "Tell me about it."

After Bella drifted off to sleep, I turned to Alice. "What are you up to, lil' bit?" I cautiously queried. With Alice, you could never be sure. She was a little minx, always up to something.

My girl just beamed at me and went up on her tiptoes to plant a kiss against my mouth. My hands cupped her head, and her fingers tightly gripped my shoulders as the kiss intensified. Breathing harshly, I pulled away. "You're not going to distract me, Alice. What are you up to?"

"I'm simply helping fate. Giving it a little . . . push, if you will," she innocently explained, batting her large grey eyes at me.

A sigh escaped my mouth, and my hand massaged the back of my neck. "The dreams you've been having, they're about Edward _and_ Bella, aren't they?"

She nodded. "Fuck," I sighed and remembered Alice was in the room. "Pardon my French, love."

"I love it when you talk dirty, Jazz." She grinned up at me, desire in her eyes.

"Stop that, you're supposed to be looking after Bella." Alice smiled knowingly at me before sauntering over to the chair beside Bella's bed.

Like I said, a little minx. All it took was feeling the brush of her hand on my arm or seeing her pupils dilate when she looked at me and I wanted her. I wanted her in my arms, under me, against me, simply _with_ me. Even now, knowing she was relatively safe, I wanted her with me at all times. I wouldn't be able to live if she was ever taken from me. In the most straightforward of ways, Alice was an integral part of my existence; she made my life meaningful.

I pinned her in place with a look. "Now, what have you been seeing?"

Slowly, Alice drew in a deep breath and exhaled. Her eyes slipped closed. "I see . . . I see Edward holding Bella in his arms, looking down at her with so much love it makes my heart clench. And, I see . . . I see them sleeping together, wrapped around each other so you don't know where one begins and the other ends. And I see…" Alice's voice cracked. "I see Bella, pregnant, with Edward's arms holding her from behind, his hand gently stroking her stomach…"

Gradually, Alice returned to me. "It scares me sometimes," she whispered, "to see how much they will love each other and recognize that it's us in the present. Sometimes it scares me how much I love you and how much you love me; it scares me."

I strode over to the chair and picked Alice up before settling her in my lap. "Never be scared of our love," I firmly said to her, my hands tightly framing her elfin face. Her watery eyes locked on mine, and I pressed my lips harshly against hers. Adrenaline pumped through my body, and my usual gentleness in regards to Alice disappeared. There was nothing soft about the way I ground my mouth against hers or the way my hands clasped her lithe body to mine. Something primitive was running through me; I needed to put my mark on her, claim her as mine forever.

Alice's hands slowly calmed me down. Her fingertips whispered across my face, gently caressing it before sliding down to stoke my neck and back. I pulled back to draw in deep breaths, trying to steady my racing heart.

Her hands slid up to cup my face, and she whispered to me, "'You are me and I am you; can't you see it's a love game for two?'"

Once again, I crushed her against my body, my head pressed to the wispy spikes of her hair.

"You can go now, I'll look after her," Edward's voice cut in.

Our heads darted up and a faint blush spread across my cheeks. "Right, come on, love." I stood up and grabbed Alice's hand before striding from the room. My thoughts began to race. I had been so caught up in Alice I hadn't paid much attention to Bella. Had she overheard any of our conversation or was she really deeply asleep? Had Edward overheard anything?

A sharp tug on my arm stopped me short. I looked back to find Alice gazing solemnly at me. "Stop it, Jasper. Everything is fine. Stop worrying, everything will be all right."

"I wish I knew that, love. I wish I knew that," I murmured before continuing down the pathway.


	12. Chapter 12: Emmett

1. Penname: Foxtrot

2. Story Title: There Will Be Blood

3. Story Link: ?sid=3368

4. Chapter #: Chapter Twelve: Emmett

5. Rating: R

6. Genre: AU-Human

7. Complete Story Summary: After the Volturi took control of the U.S. government fifteen years ago, people who opposed them moved underground. They are known as the Resistance and they live in underground communes deep enough to hide their heat signature from the Volturi. Recently, the Volturi have located several Resistance communes and completely annihilated them.

Bella lived in the Cactus Desert Territory commune (what used to be Arizona and New Mexico) until the Volturi attacked and she was the sole survivor. Charlie, the commander of the entire Resistance, rescued her and had her brought back to the Seatacoma Region commune.

Edward is the head of intelligence; he runs missions and keeps track of all the Resistance communes. Edward realizes his desire for Bella very quickly and the intensity of his emotion frightens Bella (that's as far as I've gotten in the story with this).

Jasper brings Alice to the Seatacoma Region commune after rescuing her from the Volturi. She is known as one of the Lost Ones, children experimented on by the Volturi in hopes of enhancing or replicating their special "gifts". They have known each other all their lives and marry upon reaching the commune. Jasper soon becomes one of Edward's operatives.

Rosalie was left for dead outside the commune entrance years ago after being gang raped and beaten. Edward found her brought her to Carlisle, who managed to save her. She's an operative and often goes on missions for Edward. It is during one of her missions that she finds Emmett, critically wounded, and saves him. Her rescue of him leads to the her discovery of the La Push commune, which was one of the first underground cities. I do not plan for the La Push commune to play a large part in the story.

Upon seeing Rosalie, Emmett immediately decided that he wanted her. So he has gone about that in a highly entertaining way. His overt sexuality will eventually push Rosalie to the brink (this will be a painful, yet cathartic experience for her). Emmett too will become an operative.

Very soon (within the next few chapters) the Resistance will begin to make their move against the Volturi. I do plan for the Resistance to be victorious, but at a cost (I'm not going to reveal yet the cost).

8. Chapter Summary: In this chapter, I introduce Emmett more. I am portraying him as a big, dumb animal mainly because of something I have up my sleeve. Emmett and Rosalie's relationship is also starting to develop. He uses schoolboy tactics to get her notice, which only infuriates her. To a degree, I would say many commune residents are socially retarded. They have not interacted in a "normal" society, and don't quite know the basics. For someone who grew up in the outside world, this would be very frustrating. Also, I introduce Alice to Emmett. They are going to be somewhat of a comedic relief in the story. I want to brighten it up occasionally with moments of levity, and I think Alice and Emmett will make a great duo. Emmett's scene with Edward is mostly to reveal a less serious side of Edward. I don't want Edward to be taken so seriously that he can't have any fun. Let's be honest, boys will be boys. I have taken up a lot of the chapters with character development, and soon I feel I will be able to move on to more plot-driven chapters. I really wanted to establish the characters so that one could think, "Oh, that's in character," or, "Oh, that doesn't really seem like something he would do." Once I am able to start getting more into the plot, things will happen quickly.

9. Beta 1:

10. Beta 2:

**Emmett's POV**

I woke up disorientated, to say the least. The objects surrounding me were fuzzy and blurry. My eyes were unable to focus and my concentration was broken by nausea. A loud groan escaped my mouth and I rolled to my side.

I refused to throw up. With a grimace, I swallowed the rising bile back down. I opened my eyes back up and rolled onto my back. Blearily, I tried to bring the ceiling back into focus. There was a dull pounding in my head, and the feeling of cotton balls in my mouth. I stuck my fingers into my mouth to make sure there was no cotton.

My mouth was cotton-free, but now a funky taste infiltrated my taste buds. Loudly, I smacked my tongue around my mouth, trying to rid my mouth of the nasty taste. No success. I blindly grabbed for the thin sheet covering me and pulled the edge up to my face. I roughly wiped my tongue on the sheet only to have the taste of ass replaced with the interesting taste of fabric softener.

"Nurse Funbags!" I called, a grin stretching across my face despite my pounding head. Oh, she was going to love that one.

Rosalie stalked angrily into the room, a scowl on her beautiful face. "What?" she snapped, hate beaming from her striking eyes.

"I've got a bad taste in my mouth," I innocently informed her, opening my eyes extra-wide.

"Well, maybe you wouldn't have that problem if you would pull your head out of your ass." She stormed from the room, trying to slam the door behind her . . . except it was a swinging door and came right back to smack her in the ass. I envied the door; I wanted my hand to be cupping that delectable rear-end as it slapped some love into it.

"Ow!" she exclaimed before whipping around to glare at me through the small oval window in the door, as though it were _my_ fault the door had hit her. I sent a cheeky grin her way. She shrieked and stalked away.

Several minutes later, Dr. Cullen walked in. "So I see we're feeling better, Emmett."

A big smile was my only response. The doctor chuckled and started to examine me.

"Well, it looks like your bullet wounds are healing nicely . . . and your head is just fine . . . the casts will be on your wrist and leg for a few more weeks, then we'll be able to take them off." His gloves snapped as he pulled them off, and threw them away. I winced; I hated that sound.

Rosalie came back in the room, expressionless. "You're healed enough to leave, so Carlisle arranged for you to come stay with him, until rooms can be found for you," she informed me in a monotone.

Warily, I looked at her. I wasn't too sure about this Rosalie; I was used a fiery, passionate woman, not this robot. "All right?" Confusion wrapped around my brain for a couple of seconds. I opened my mouth to say more, but then thought better of it. Rosalie was acting strangely, and I didn't know why.

I slid out of the bed, and hobbled over to pick the crushes off a chair near the wall. Rosalie exhaled slowly and muttered, "For the love of God, can you not do anything without provoking me?"

Puzzled, I turned around and felt a breeze. _Whoops_. My gown wasn't tied in the back. "Well, maybe if y'all hadn't put me in a muumuu!" _Really, like this was my fault?_

"Maybe if you weren't so determined to so the nasty, you'd have some modesty!"

Now _that_ was a low blow. "Maybe if you weren't such a frigid bitch!"

She sucked in a sharp breath, pain in her eyes. I had crossed an uncrossable line. And now I was fucked.

Rosalie raised her icy blue eyes to meet mine. "Maybe if you weren't such a chauvinistic pig, I'd have some form of interest in you," she coldly informed me before exiting the room.

_Damn it. I hadn't meant to say that_. Growling, I punched the wall, and received only pain in return. _Stupid rock wall_.

I quickly searched the room for clothing, and found a pair of sweatpants, and a large t-shirt. I threw them on and grabbed the crutches. After trying to use both of them, I learned that my injured hand would not allow that. So I limped from the room with one crutch.

"Rosalie!" I called down the hallway, trying to find her. "Rosalie!"

She came around a bend and snarled at me, "What?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said. It hurt me what you said, so I wanted to get back at you. I'm really sorry."

"Fine," she said. "Now follow me. I need to take you to Carlisle's. You need to rest."

Slowly, I followed her to my new quarters. She helped me into the bed, and turned to leave. "Wait, aren't you going to tuck me in?"

"You're a big boy. I think you can handle it."

"But I'm hurt."

She sighed, and walked back over to the bed before bending down to tuck the covers around my body. When she started to rise back up, I grabbed her hand, keeping her bent over me. "I really am sorry. I don't think you're frigid at all. You're kind of a bitch, but I like it. You say what you mean. Please forgive me?" I begged, giving her my best puppy dog eyes.

Her eyes darted away from mine. "I forgive you, Emmett," she softly said and pulled away. My head fell back on the pillow, and I watched through slitted eyes as she sashayed from the room. I couldn't wait to make her mine.

"What are you doing?" I asked as I limped into the Cerebrum. Mr. Sexually Frustrated was watching the multitude of screens, an intense expression on his face.

He quickly hit a button to bring another camera into focus. "Nothing."

"That does _not_ look like nothing." Two shadowed figures were heaving and thrusting, load moans filling the room. The camera caught the light of a torch and a flash of breasts was seen.

"Oh, for the love of-!" Edward muttered before sending a guard to go and break the couple apart.

"I think I'm going to fit right in," I sighed, a large shit-eating grin on my face.

Edward sent me a killing glance. "What are you doing in here, you don't have clearance."

"I just thought I'd stop by, have a little chat…"

"I'm not going to help you 'bang' Rosalie." _Well that was straight and to the point_.

"Hey, it's up to you if you wanna watch," I smirked.

"You're a large child."

"You're sexually repressed."

"You're one gene away from the missing link."

"You look like your mother dressed you."

"Somewhere, a village is missing its idiot." _Whoa, party foul._

"You look like someone kicked your face in," I shot back.

"I have a third testicle."

"Yeah, well, I – did you just say you have a third testicle?" I was thoroughly confused, and could only imagine the look on my face.

Edward burst out laughing. "I win!"

"That is _so_ not fair. You can't just throw something like that out there!" Never before had I lost an insult war.

Edward was still laughing. "The-the look on your face. Priceless!"

Finally, a large smile broke out on my face. It was funny, I had to admit. I started to laugh too.

Charlie walked in to us laughing so hard we were crying, talking in Looney Tunes voices.

"-And so I go, 'I can just hear your ovaries screaming for me to fertilize them'."

"I came into the conversation at the wrong time," Charlie commented as Edward and I straightened up and tried to appear serious.

"Charlie," Edward acknowledged. A little giggle escaped me. I slapped my hands over my mouth. and hit my eye with my cast.

"Ow! Well, I guess I had better go see Nurse Funbags about this." Quickly, I stood up and clomped over to the exit. "Ta-ta!"

As I left I overheard Charlie, "Do you think he might have been dropped on his head as a child?"

My eye throbbed from where I had whacked it with my cast. I glanced down at the simple, white plaster cast; there was a spec of blood on it. _Shit._ Tentatively, I raised my good hand to feel the area. It was tender with the feel of freshly shredded flesh. I heaved a sigh, and headed towards the infirmary.

"Rosie?" I called out as I came through the doors. There was no one in sight. "Rosalie? I hurt my head."

"Emmett?" a voice called out. _Definitely not Rosalie, she had much more affectionate names for me._ Dr. Cullen came out from a back room. His hair was tousled, and his tie was slightly askew. "Is everything all right?"

"Oh, yeah. I just hit myself with my cast."

Dr. Cullen repressed a smile, and bade me to sit on one of the beds. As I turned I caught a slight motion out of the corner of my eye: a woman slipping out the infirmary doors. This time I hid a smile.

Five minutes later I was good to go. "Where's Rosalie?" I questioned.

"I'm sure she's with Edward," he absently told me, cleaning up his supplies.

I perked up. From what I had gleaned, Eddie-boy was hot for the commander's daughter, not Rosalie. "Why?"

"That's where she normally works." He began to leave the room, an air of distraction about him.

"Dr. Cullen?" I asked.

"Carlisle please, Emmett," he softly corrected me, pausing at the door.

"If Rosalie doesn't usually work in the infirmary, then why was she taking care of me?"

Carlisle just smiled and left the room. I hated those types of people, always expecting you to figure things out for yourself. I may act the big, dumb animal, but I was quite mentally capable. Personally, I just hated having to figure out all that emotional crap girls deal with.

I heaved another sigh, and left the room only to be attacked by a munchkin upon leaving. "Whoa! Slow down there, nugget."

A little imp was watching me with a large grin on her face as her feet dangled several inches off the floor. Carefully, I set her down.

"I've been waiting quite some time for you, Emmett," she informed me.

"I hate to break it to you, but I've already got someone." _It was best to let them down easy, right from the start._

The girl laughed, a trilling bell sound. "So do I; my husband."

"Oh, well, what's your business? And how do you know my name?" _Creepy little thing she was._

"I'm Alice, and I can help you get what you want."

"Well, Alice, I think we're going to get along just fine then," I told her as I placed her arm through mine, forcing her rise to her tiptoes. "Now, about the name thing…"

"Oh, that. It's just something I do. Is there anything else you want to know? What you're going to eat for dinner, perhaps?"

I grinned down at her. "Now, nugget, what would be the fun in that?"

We headed down the pathway, chatting. I had found my new partner-in-crime.


	13. Chapter 13: Carlisle

**Carlisle's POV**

My son was in love. And my daughter was fighting love. They were not my biological children, but they may as well have been my own. Esme and I had taken Edward in years ago, when he was still a gangly youth, and Rosalie when Edward found her two years ago just outside the commune entrance.

In every sense of the word, they were my children. And now they were discovering the joys and fears of love. From the moment Edward laid eyes on Bella, electricity had sparkled between them. Only, Edward didn't believe himself worthy of love, at least not Bella's love.

The day he came back after interrogating her, I knew. I could see it in his eyes. He was scared, scared of the emotions he was feeling, scared of what this all meant. By now, I think he had come to terms with it all. If there was one thing I could have said about that boy, it was that everything he has ever done had been done intensely. And now, it was Bella who seemed afraid of their love. Loving Edward meant loving with her whole heart and that meant giving up a piece of herself to someone else. A piece that would go into someone else's keeping, to break or to cherish.

It would only be a matter of time before the two would be inseparable, caught in those first blissful stages of love. I could tell Charlie was oblivious, as he often was whenever it came to matters of emotion; the man could be denser than a fencepost at times. I knew he probably would not like Bella and Edward's relationship. She was his only child, the last piece of the wife he still loved, and he had only just gotten her back. There was no stopping love, however.

At times, I understood why Charlie would dislike their relationship. Edward often came across as cold and unfeeling, but I knew he was filled with flames of emotion: Anger, love, lust, and vengeance.

When he had come to us almost five years ago, he had been broken. He had been so filled with despair and hate that I hadn't been sure we would be able to find the boy underneath. Yet, he was this way for a reason. Everyday I prayed we would get word of the Volturi's demise. They had destroyed so much without a single thought. They were animals, soulless creatures that decided people's fate on a whim.

Edward had lived in Chicago with his mother and father, and he had been the apple of their eye. He had been surrounded by their love and then one day, it had all been taken away. The Volturi had decided to determine if their labs had been able to create a strain of the Spanish Influenza as lethal as the one from the early 1900s. They had released the spores of the new virus on the west side of the city and spores that had been frozen for decades in ice on the east side. People from the west side had survived; people from the east had not.

Edward had been one of the few to make it out alive. When I'd found him, he had been malnourished, frail, and running a very high fever. Only through the grace of God had I been able to save him.

His recovery had not been an easy one, and it had only solidified the ending of his childhood. His sole reason for survival had been revenge. He had wanted vengeance for his parents and all the other innocent souls that had died because of the Volturi and their disregard for life. It had hardened him, made him cold and, at times, unfeeling. But all he had needed was a flame to thaw out his wounded heart. And Isabella Swan would be that flame.

Emmett was brash and overtly sexual, and, yet, he was exactly what Rosalie needed. She was my little ice princess, liable to shatter at the first hint of vulnerability. She made me proud everyday and humbled me, too. She had managed to go on living after a brutal assault when most others would have crumbled. I could only guess at what she had gone through, making educated assumptions based on the wounds I had treated. It had been clear she had been savagely beaten and raped, repeatedly. Finally, she had been left for dead, a broken, limp doll.

When Edward had carried her in, I hadn't been certain I could help her. I had been afraid she was too far-gone. But she hadn't been gone; she had simply retreated to a safe place inside herself. Only she never fully left that shelter afterwards. She lived, but part of her remained hidden, protected from the outside world. Emmett wasn't going to let that continue. He was going to set her free. He was going to love her.

And Emmett . . . well, he was a special boy. Constantly posturing and bragging, hiding his vulnerability behind a thick wall of . . . well, crap. However, he was a good boy, and he'd fallen in love with Rosalie the moment he had seen her. And she had fallen in love with him the moment she had laid her eyes on him. Of course, neither one realized this.

Rosalie wouldn't have saved him if an inkling of love hadn't existed in her heart for him. To be brutally honest, Rosalie viewed the world in a kill-or-be-killed way. The only time I really saw her compassionate nature was with the commune children. Her subconscious mind knew Emmett was the one for her. Just as I knew the moment I met Esme that she was the one for me. _That_ was why she had saved him. I honestly believed she would have left him for dead otherwise.

Emmett wouldn't continuously egg Rosalie on if he didn't care. He was like a child: the only way he knew how to let Rosalie know he liked her was to irritate the holy hell out of her. Like the little boy in grade school who pulled pigtails, Emmett threw out sexual jokes left and right. I didn't know if he knew, but he was doing the perfect thing to get her attention.

They would fight like cats and dogs for a while, but one day they would go from fighting to loving. And everyone knows the more passionately you hate someone, the more passionately you love someone.

Although I was happy for Edward and Rosalie, I was scared. My children were leaving me. Not in the physical sense, but in the emotional. They no longer needed Esme's and my love; they had others now providing that, whether they realized it or not. I never thought I could love someone with so much passion my heart overflowed, and it hurt to now say good-bye as they entered the next chapter of their lives. I loved my children, and I would let them go. With a hug and a kiss I'd send them off, knowing they had found the greatest thing in the world: love.


	14. Chapter 14: Emmett

**Emmett's POV **

She was avoiding me, but that wasn't going to stop me. I was determined to make her mine – she was mine, and she had been since the moment I'd laid eyes on her. Mine and no one else's.

My large body was wedged uncomfortably into an alcove as I laid in wait for Rosalie. A large grin spread across my face; I couldn't wait to see her.

Rosalie came down the corridor, her slim hips swaying from side to side with each step she took. I suppressed a groan; she was so fucking sexy. I wanted her beneath me, over me, next to me, any way I could have her. As she drew closer my heart began to race.

Her jeans looked as though they had been painted on, and her top outlined her every curve. My mouth went dry just looking at her. As she came even with me I leaped out and pinned her to the opposite wall, placing my hand behind her head. She grunted as her back made hard contact with hard-packed dirt.

Before she could get a grasp on what had just happened, I pressed my lips to hers. For several moments her mouth lay slack beneath mine, but as my lips shaped themselves to hers, she slowly came alive. Her fisted hands unclasped and grabbed as much of my shirt as possible, pulling me into her sweet body. A tiny whimper escaped her lips as I pulled back from the kiss to smirk down at her. It took a moment for her glazed eyes to focus.

She scowled up at me, "What the fuck, Emmett!" Her eyes flashed up at me. I grinned even wider down at her. She slammed her closed fists on my chest, but I barely felt it. "Let me go," she demanded.

"Tsk, tsk. Where are your manners?" I mused with a shit-eating grin.

"They're about to be shoved up your ass."

"Ooh, sounds fun. I like to play rough," I commented, leaning down to run my nose along her neck, drawing her heavenly scent deep into my nostrils.

"Let me go, you pervert," she commanded with a snarl.

"Kiss me first," I ordered.

"No!" she shouted, infuriated. I ignored her and swooped down to claim another kiss. Her soft lips pillowed mine as I sought entrance to her mouth. Her lips parted, and I slipped inside; she bit my tongue.

I pulled back. "Play nice," I instructed before leaning back down. Rosalie clamped her lips shut and tried to turn her head away, but I persisted, until she slammed her knee deep into my groin. My knees gave out, and I fell to the ground, tenderly cupping Little Emmett and Co.

"Don't fuck with me," she said and stalked off.

It was a long time before I was able to get to my feet and gingerly head home. She might have won this battle, but I had finally gotten my kiss. And the way she had melted in my arms only further encouraged me to pursue her. She wanted me; she just didn't know it yet.

I was gonna be late. Crap. I quickened my pace as I raced down the hallway. Edward had called a meeting to go over the profiles of the Volturi, and since I was a new operative, it was imperative that I be there.

With a sigh of relief, I realized I had managed to arrive on time but not early enough to choose where I wanted to sit. All of the seats were taken…except for the one by Rose. _Perfect_, a smile slipped across my lips, and I sauntered on over to plop down beside her. She was gonna be _so_ happy to see me.

Her head slowly turned to appraise me. "I thought I told you to not fuck with me."

"I'm not, at least not yet, but my schedule for tonight is open." _Raise the roof! That's right, bitch. Walked right into that one!_

Rosalie leaned in closer to me, and I took the opportunity to admire her breasts. Amazing, like the rest of her. My eyes finally rose to meet hers. "I will end you if you don't back the fuck up and get away from me."

"Anyone ever tell you that you've got the mouth of a longshoreman?"

"Fuck off!" She whipped back around in her seat to face the front. Edward was standing at the front of the room, his eyebrow raised in my direction. I sent a thumb's up his way; I was melting my ice queen, and it wouldn't be long before she was a puddle at my feet.

"All right, let's get started," he began as the first image appeared. An olive complexioned man with wavy hair to his shoulders was on the screen.

"Looks like a regular fruit cup to me," I said, leaning back in my chair.

"Exactly what he wants you to think; this is Demetri. He is a top member of the Volturi guard and one of their best trackers. He is responsible for the destruction of the Appalachia and New Charleston communes. His main function is simple: find members of the resistance and annihilate them," Edward explained.

My fists clenched. So this was the guy responsible for the death of my family; he was mine to take out now. Rose glanced at me out of the corner of her eye. I unclenched my fists and shot a grin her way. She hmmphed and focused back on Edward.

"This is Felix. He is another member of the Volturi guard. His main purpose is to act as brute force. If the Volturi are unable to persuade someone with reason or coercion, then Felix takes over." I studied the new picture. He, too, had olive colored skin, though his hair was cropped short.

"Moving on, here we have Alec. He and his twin sister, Jane, are very important to the Volturi. They possess a great deal of sway within the organization. Don't let his size fool you; he's very dangerous and not to be trusted. His twin sister, Jane, is even more worrisome. She revels in other people's pain and gets a sadistic amount of joy from hurting others. Where Alec is calm and cool, Jane is fiery and erratic."

Jane's empty eyes stared back at me; they were void; empty of any and all soul. They were the eyes of a true sociopath. I glanced at the picture of Alec; his eyes weren't dead. He seemed to still possess some semblance of a soul. Rosalie shuddered.

"What's wrong, Rose?"

"Her eyes . . . that little girl has no soul," she whispered, her voice sounding choked with tears.

"She's not right in the head, Rosalie. You heard what Edward said."

"Yes, but, what happened to make her that way? Who stole her soul?"

"I doubt anyone stole it. She probably lost it all on her own." Rosalie's eyes met mine; they were filled with pain. I grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze before setting it back in her lap. She gave me a small smile and turned towards the screen. It seemed my ice queen could thaw out every once in a while.

"Finally, those three are Aro, Caius, and Marcus," Edward said. I studied the three old men that had destroyed our world. All had long hair, though it varied in shade and length. One had cloudy eyes, probably due to cataracts.

Three old men and their desire for total power and absolute domination had killed my family, wrecked my world, and destroyed everything I had once known. Blood lust began to pump fiercely through my veins, and my adrenaline hiked up.

I wanted their blood on my hands, their lives dependent upon my whims, and their dead bodies at my feet. A low growl curled my lips, and a staying hand was laid on my arm. It was Rosalie, and her eyes begged me to calm myself. I was slowly able to rein myself in.

"Commit these people to memory. Our plan of action is to kill off the parts of the body before striking for the brain. Once all the peripheral people are out of the picture, we kill the Volturi and reclaim our freedom. We need to plan carefully to accomplish what we have set forth to do. Any slip-ups and we're all dead.

"Our first order of business is to take out Demetri. He poses the greatest possible threat to us right now. His tracking skills are unsurpassed, and we are not at a point where we could sufficiently defend the commune if they were to attack. Once Demetri is gone, we move on to Felix, then Alec and Jane, and finally Aro, Caius, and Marcus."

I could already feel the adrenaline rushing through my body. I wanted to be the one to take out Demetri. It was because of him that my family was dead. My mother, my father, my little sisters, and brothers were all dead because of that bastard. He was mine to kill.

I knew I would have to discuss this with Edward, but I was sure that he would give me Demetri's kill.

Quickly, I glanced over at Rose. Her head was bent, her hair shielding her gorgeous face from my view. _'God, she's beautiful,'_ I breathed to myself.

When I was finally able to tear my eyes away from her, I realized that the meeting had ended. Edward was leaving the room, so I jumped up from my chair and raced to catch him. "Edward, can I talk to you?"

"Yes, what do you need?" He looked somewhat impatient, as though he'd rather be somewhere else. His green gaze focused on me after a moment.

"I want Demetri. I owe him a little something." The words were harsh and full of hate. There was no way that was going to escape Edward's notice.

His brows creased and he pursed his mouth. "I really don't think that would be best, Emmett. It's quite obvious you are too emotionally involved, and that makes for mistakes; mistakes we can't have. I'm sorry, but no."

"Edward, man, this bastard is the reason my family is dead. I need to kill him. I have to kill him, for my family." I was all but begging.

"No, you're not thinking clearly. When you kill for revenge it consumes you: heart, mind, body, and soul. You will make careless mistakes and do anything necessary to ensure his death. But in doing so, you will endanger our plans and us. We can't have that. I'm sorry." And with that he walked away. Enraged, I whipped around and slammed my fist into the wall. Dirt showered down on me. I growled.

"Calm yourself down, Emmett. We don't need you tearing down the whole fucking commune just because you didn't get what you wanted," Rosalie snapped as she brushed past me.

"You know you want some of this!" I shouted at her back. A one-fingered salute was her only response.


	15. Chapter 15: Jasper

**Jasper's POV**

My feet flew over the ground as my heart pumped madly and adrenaline surged crazily through my blood. My breath came out in harsh puffs as I dashed through the thick foliage. Loud crashes alerted me that my pursuers were not far behind.

What had been a simple supply run had turned into a nightmare. Three of us had slipped from the bowels of the commune in the dark of night to Vancouver to grab more necessities for our dwindling supply. The trip had taken three days, with a fear-filled ferry ride before we had reached the outskirts of the city. The commune was in desperate need of protein. We rarely had actual meat, and most of the commune could no longer digest meat well. Our supply of dried beans had run out about two months ago, and our little gardens simply did not produce enough to feed everyone.

So here I was. Sent to get some beans, brown rice, nuts, and wheat. The trip hadn't gone over exactly as we'd hoped. The other two were lying in a pool of blood somewhere, their throats slit from behind. If I hadn't heard the faintest crinkle of leaves, I would have been a dead man.

Just as the guy had come up behind me, I had whipped around and snapped his neck. The loud _crack_ had been immensely satisfying. Quickly, I had leaped over the fallen body and darted into the woods behind me.

At least two men were chasing me, possibly a third. I knew I couldn't keep running. Like a pack of hounds chasing a fox, they were running me to the ground, trying to tire me out. I came to a decision; it was time to stop running and face my enemies. All I had on me was a metal canteen and a compass. I was ill-equipped for survival, but I would try. For Alice's sake, I would try.

They came thundering up behind me, and I turned with a savage cry of rage. I swung my canteen around and slammed it into the face of one of the men. Blood spurted in an arc from his nose. With a pained cry, he hit the ground.

The other man was more wary. We circled each other for several seconds before I decided to just rush him. Bad decision.

A burning pain exploded in my side, and I felt my body weaken. We separated, and I looked down to see blood flowing from my side; the bastard had stabbed me. Slowly, I looked up. A wicked knife gleamed with my blood as large droplets dripped steadily from the blade. A groan to my left jerked my attention away from my attacker.

Man number one lay moaning on the ground, holding his busted nose. At the moment, he represented a limited threat to me. I turned my gaze back to my main threat: man number two. Again, we began to circle each other. This time, I was more cautious. I could feel my blood seeping from the wound; it was deep, and I wasn't going to last too much longer if I didn't go ahead and take this guy out.

My canteen was lying on the ground a few feet from the groaning man, completely out of my reach. It was of no use to me at this point, leaving me bereft on any sort of a weapon. We continued to circle.

Frantically, I tried to come up with a plan. I was unarmed, and I had limited options. My strength was fading fast, and I could feel a cold, clammy sweat building on my body. The wound was severe, and I was in trouble.

"Why don't we make this fight fair and you drop that knife?" I hoarsely suggested.

"Now why would I want to do that?" he taunted back.

"Because then my death would mean nothing; your victory would be worthless. You would only win because you had an unfair advantage." I could tell I was starting to get to him. Just barely, I was able to keep my grin to myself.

"Aren't you man enough to take me down without a knife? Like in the old days, man to man?" I continued to goad.

"Shut up. You're a dead man no matter what," he snarled.

I paused for a millisecond. If I hadn't been positive before, I was now. He was Volturi. This whole food thing was a setup to catch members of the Resistance. We had received intel that there was bags of grains and nuts in a warehouse not far outside of Vancouver, just sitting there for the taking. "You kill me with that knife, and you lose all bragging rights. You're just a weak little man who couldn't kill anyone without a little extra help."

He released an enraged yell as he threw the knife aside and rushed me. We collided together and hit the ground. We rolled over the twigs and leaves that littered the forest floor, throwing punches left and right. His fist slammed into my side and stars danced in front of my eyes. Raggedly, I pulled a breath in and pain shot through my sides.

He flipped me onto my back and began pummeling me again. Over and over, his fists slammed into my face and torso. I heard my nose crack and blood began flowing down my chin. The coppery taste of blood filled my mouth. My cheekbone split, and more blood seeped out. Just as I was beginning to lose consciousness, I thought of my sweet Alice - her cute elfin face and her petite little body; her pretty, smoky eyes and delicious little pout; and her love for me, her all-consuming love for me.

I smashed my face into his, knocking him on his back. Quickly, I pinned him down and started my retaliation. Blood sprayed my face and neck as I pounded my bloody fists into his face over and over and over. Curses spilled from my mouth. Each punch I landed was retribution. One for Alice, one for Bella, one for Rosalie, one for Emmett, and one for every person the Volturi had wronged.

A heavy body knocked me over, and man number one began punching me. He had me on my back, and my hands dug madly into the ground looking for something, anything to help me. My hand clasped a rock, and I slammed it into the man's head.

Again and again, I savagely hit his head with the rock. His blood splatter covered my face, hands, and clothes, mixing with my own. Its taste filled my mouth and obscured my vision. Still, I kept hitting.

Finally, he slumped over me. His head was bashed in, and little bits of brain matter clung to the rock and my clothes. Weakly, I shoved him off of me and crawled a few paces away. Blood continued to seep sluggishly from the wound in my side.

I collapsed on the ground face first, as consciousness began to fade. My last thoughts were of Alice. '_I'm so sorry, baby. I love you,'_ I thought, hoping, praying, she could hear me.


	16. Chapter 16: Bella

**Bella's POV**

He was the most beautiful man I had ever met. When his eyes would meet mine, my heart would start to thump, and my hands would get sweaty. Renee called it that feeling of exhilaration you got as you reached the precipice of a roller coaster and started plummeting down. I'd never ridden a roller coaster, but I had to imagine my mother was right. He made me feel as though I was falling, and there was nothing to catch me. He scared the living daylights out of me.

Since the day Edward kissed me and told me I was his, he'd watched me. As I walked around the commune, I could feel his eyes on me. I felt . . . funny when I realized he'd been watching me. My cheeks flushed and tingled, and this heavy sensation settled in my pelvis. No one had ever made me feel this way before, and I didn't know what it meant.

There wasn't really anyone I could talk to about it either. Alice disconcerted me. Whenever she looked at me it felt like she could see all my secrets. It was unnerving. Over the last couple of weeks we'd become friendly, but her declaration that we were going to be best friends hadn't yet come true. I could tell the slow progression of our friendship was frustrating to her.

Rosalie didn't like me. Then again, I wasn't too sure she liked anyone, although she and Alice seemed to have a bond; they talked fashion together and reminisced about their time topside. Having lived underground for most of my life, I don't remember much about the world above. Sometimes I wondered what it might have been like before the Volturi took over, when things were normal. Nothing's normal now.

I slowly wandered back to my rooms, having already walked around the commune several times. There wasn't much for me to do, not that anyone was going to let the commander's daughter do anything that might resemble work. They all tiptoed around me like I was going to shatter into a thousand pieces like a porcelain doll I used to own. I wasn't breakable; I was just lonely.

Alice and I would spend time together later today after she finished her shift in the Cerebrum where she worked in the Temporal Center, going through endless amounts of data regarding the Volturi. I knew she was hoping that something she saw or heard in the hours of video and audio would trigger the return of her memories.

She had confided in me that she remembered nothing from her time with the Volturi. It's all just this big blank – three years of her life, gone.

Sometimes I wondered if she didn't get the better end of the deal. There were times I wished I remembered nothing of my time before coming here. Every night that day played in my dreams. My mother's anguished screams, and Phil's panicked shouting echoed through my head. I would look down and see my mother's blood covering my hands and arms, my chest, my legs. It was then I would wake up, covered in sweat.

I knew Charlie could hear me when I had the nightmares. He was always giving me these looks that I couldn't decipher. Honestly, I didn't know _how_ he felt about me. Some days, I could swear there was pain and accusation in his eyes. Other times love or compassion. My father confused me, and I think I confused him. But no one confused me more than Edward, which simply brought me back to where my thoughts had started.

Edward scared me, and he thrilled me. Several times a week he stopped by to chat with me, always when Charlie was gone. We talked about books, dreams, whatever came to mind. Never before had I met someone I could talk to so easily. Talking with Edward was effortless; words just seemed to spill out of my mouth like a waterfall. And he would just sit there and listen, soaking it all up, as though I was the most interesting person in the world. I had to bore him to tears, but he was too nice to tell me.

Once a week we would walk around the commune together, just chatting, sometimes holding hands. My heart would flutter like a baby bird's, beating rapidly against my ribcage. When we were at the far edges of the commune, we would stop and sit down, letting the glow of the torches fall over us. He would sit and stare at me until I started to squirm, unsure as to _why_ he was staring at me.

One time, he'd brushed his fingers lightly over my face, whispering, "Pretty Bella," before he'd kissed me.

Edward's kisses bowled me over. Time would stop, and my feet would stick to the ground. They were slow and sweet and made me want more, but I wasn't sure how to get more. Whenever things got heated, he would pull away and draw me in for a hug. I would pant and try to catch my breath while I was against his chest. It was hard though; he smelled so good, like mint and soap. Then, he would release me from his embrace and grab my hand before we continued on our walk, just talking.

Whenever I ran out of words, Edward would fill the gaps. His voice was quiet and strong at the same time. It fascinated me, the way his words seemed to float lightly in the air before trailing gently over my eardrums, a sweet symphony of sound. A small giggle escaped. Only Edward could make me poetic.

That thought stopped me in my tracks. I looked up and realized I had stopped just outside my rooms, my hand poised to grasp the handle. Quickly, I whipped around. I needed to see Alice _now_.

"Oh, Bella!" Alice laughed, her expression one of frustration and amusement.

"What?" I demanded. I was already confused, and Alice laughing at me wasn't helping.

"Don't you get it?" Her voice was soft, and a gentle expression filled her large eyes. "Don't you understand what it means when you wax lyrical about someone's voice?"

No, I didn't get it . . . or maybe I didn't want to.

"You said your mother was the same way after she met Phil. Doesn't that mean anything to you?" I could tell I was starting to get to Alice; her usually patient self was starting to appear exasperated.

It felt like we'd been chasing each other around the room for the past thirty minutes. Alice would say something, and I would think I finally understood. I would say something, and she would say something else, and then I would realize I had _no_ idea what was going on.

"Oh, Bella, you're falling for him. Just like I said you would!"

Scared, I gulped. "I thought you were joking." Alice gave me a you-have-got-to-be-kidding look. Guiltily, I looked down. Alice wasn't one to joke about love or people's futures. "All your dreams don't come true, do they?" I asked with a slight quiver to my voice.

"No, my dreams are subjective. Once someone makes a decision, the dream can change – the future can change. Every night I see multiple futures based off of the decisions people make. Your future with Edward hasn't changed since the moment the Volturi decided to attack your commune," she revealed.

I didn't want to be like my mother, married to a man who couldn't express his love until finally she couldn't take it anymore. I didn't want to be history repeating itself. My mother had loved Phil with all her heart, but not her whole heart because her heart wasn't whole anymore. Personally, I didn't think I could survive without my whole heart; every piece felt vital.

Even though Edward and I talked constantly, I still knew very little about him. It felt like he knew everything about me, and I knew almost nothing about him. I didn't know about his life before the Volturi or his life before he came to live underground. I didn't know anything about his family, if he had any brothers or sisters, where he'd lived. Any time I tried to ask him questions about his former life, he would evade them, turning the questions back on me or pulling me in for a kiss since he knew I couldn't think when he did that. It scared me to think that I might care more for him than he did for me.

"They say girls marry their fathers. I don't want to marry my father," I sadly whispered. Sometimes, I thought my father loved me. Sometimes, I was so sure he loved me that I could practically feel it. Never once had my father _told_ me he loved me. Inside, I knew he was capable of love. He'd loved my mother at one point; he still did if commune rumors were true. But I needed something more than an innate knowledge of love.

"'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all,'" Alice soberly informed me. I just looked at her, numb. She stood up and went back to work, leaving me to my thoughts, chaotic as they were.

In a daze, I walked out of the Temporal Center and to the Frontal Center, where I knew Edward would be. I only had to wait a few minutes before Edward came out, concern and confusion showing plainly on his face. "Bella? What's the matter?" he asked, his hand coming up to caress my face.

He'd been doing that a lot lately. Little touches, almost imperceptible touches, to my face, hand, or back. Searchingly, I looked into his eyes, so very green and so very deep and so very full of secrets.

"You scare me," I whispered.

**A/N: Alice's quote on love can be attributed to Alfred Lord Tennyson**


	17. Chapter 17: Edward

**Edward's POV**

"You scare me," Bella whispered, her huge doe eyes looking up at me. My hands loosened their grip on her shoulders and slid slowly down her arms to cup her elbows before finally falling back to my sides.

I didn't quite know what to make of this. This whole situation was outside my realm of experience. My brow furrowed as I stared down at her. She swallowed, and her larynx gently bobbed in her translucent throat.

What about me scared her? My size, my personality, what? I focused my eyes back on hers. "How? How do I scare you?" I asked as I drew her discreetly into an alcove. This woman was mine; I had finally decided that she was, and she couldn't change that.

"I'm not going to be my mother. I'm not going to let history repeat itself." She tried to look brave; she really did. But the tear trailing down her cheek ruined it.

"Oh, Bella," I groaned. With my thumb I dashed away her tear and its salty trail. Everyone in the commune knew Renee had left Charlie not long after Bella was born. Just as everyone knew that Charlie _still_ loved Renee. What few people knew, however, was _why_ Renee had taken baby Bella and moved away.

"Don't you feel what's between us?" I quietly asked.

Her mouth quivered, and I ached to press my lips to hers. "Yes, and that's exactly what I'm afraid of. I . . . I can't care about someone more than they care about me. I just can't do it." And finally, the truth.

"How do you feel about me?" She turned her head away, her gaze unwilling to meet mine. Determined to get an answer, I turned her chin back towards me. "Bella, how do you feel about me?"

"You make me feel like I can't get enough air when you're around. Like the world's come to a standstill, and we're the only ones around, and no one's fighting to survive, and, for once, everything's all right with the world. You make me feel like I'm the most beautiful girl you've ever seen, and I know that's a lie." Bella took in a deep, shuddering breath and continued, "You make me feel like I'm safe, and nothing's ever going to hurt me ever again. And you make me feel . . . special, someone worthy of your love. And that scares me."

I didn't believe Bella had ever admitted that much about her emotions to anyone. She was just like Charlie in that way, more content to keep her thoughts and feelings to herself. And before her arrival, I had been that way, afraid to feel anything other than hatred, afraid to develop a connection.

Yesterday, I had gone to Carlisle and Esme's rooms to have dinner with them, and when I had gotten up to leave, instead of just thanking them for dinner and walking out, I gave Esme a hug. It was then that I realized just how much I had missed true physical contact. I had pulled Esme's slender body into mine and pressed my face to her hair, inhaling the scent of lilacs, and acknowledged that I had been denying myself too much for too long. I wasn't going to do that anymore. The look on Esme's face when I had pulled back was reason enough.

Tears had pushed at her lash line, and this expression of such happiness had filled her face. I had been extremely selfish these past few years, so determined to get my revenge, that I had almost turned into one of _them_, one of the Volturi. Bella had brought me back from the brink, and I wasn't going to lose her to a little fear.

"I love you," I simply said. Bella's mouth dropped open and fought for words. Smiling, I closed her mouth and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. Soft kisses quickly turned into more intense ones. I pressed Bella up against the wall with my body as my hands came up to cup her chin, holding her face steady.

"See! What did I tell you!" a giddy voiced cried behind me. I could hear little feet slapping the earthen ground as Alice jumped excitedly up and down. With a sigh, I lifted my mouth from Bella's.

Her cheeks were flushed with color, as were her cute little ears. Her lips were red and slightly swollen from my kisses. _I would keep you that way always_, I thought, feathering my thumb over her full bottom lip. Suddenly, Alice's celebration came to a halt.

I turned around to see what had caused the abrupt stop. She was standing stock-still in the middle of the room, eyes glazed over and unseeing. Her fingers twitched, and her body jerked. Carefully, I walked over to her. "Alice?" No response.

Jasper had left on a mission two days ago, and I didn't know how to handle Alice during one of her episodes. Most often, her visions came in the form of dreams. She hadn't had a vision outside of a sleep state since coming here. With great care I lowered her to the floor, bracing her against my body, and waited for her to come out of it.

Hours seemed to tick by as Bella joined me, and we waited anxiously for Alice to rejoin us. She came back with a harsh gasp and fell into my chest. Her body began to heave, and she wrenched away from me to vomit on the floor. The light layer of dirt mixed with the sour contents of her stomach, swirling to create a macabre image. Dry heaves continued to wrack her slight body as Bella crooned softly and rubbed a comforting hand over Alice's back.

"You have to save him. You have to do something," she began to sob, quickly becoming hysterical. Bella's eyes darted to mine in panic, and I scooped Alice up and walked from the room, my long strides eating up the distance to the infirmary.

"You have to _do_ something!" she screamed, beating at my chest with her fists. I barely felt the blows they were so weak. Bella darted ahead of me and hurried to hold the doors open. We rushed into the infirmary, Bella calling for Carlisle.

He appeared quickly and assessed the situation. "Place her on the bed. Bella, if you could grab vial C4 from the cabinet, along with a syringe and an alcohol swab, please." She hurried to do his bidding and rushed back to him, contents in hand. Carlisle calmly measured out a dosage of some clear liquid before jabbing the dripping needle into Alice's arm.

I saw Bella sway and went to lead her to a chair in the dim corner of the room. Her face was chalky white, and small beads of sweat clung to her hairline. "Sorry, I don't do so well with stuff like this."

"It's all right, love. Just rest here," I reassured her. My mind couldn't help but distinguish the differences between Bella and me. My life was filled with chaos, horror, and blood. Somehow, Charlie and Renee had protected Bella from these things. She couldn't stand the sight of blood or of someone receiving a shot. My hands were bathed in blood; I was responsible for numerous deaths. I wasn't fit to be near her, let alone touch her. It was too late for that, however; she was mine.

Alice's whimpers of distress softly died out until she slipped into a drugged slumber. "What did you give her?" I asked Carlisle, striding over to stand beside him next to the bed.

"Just a little something to calm her down and make her sleep." Weariness in his every step, he crossed to the biological waste bin to throw away the used needle. "What's going on, Edward? Why was she so upset?"

Normally, Carlisle never asked me about anything that could pertain to my job. Something had changed. "You know I can't tell you that, Carlisle."

"Damnit, Edward! I'm tired of hearing that. I may just be the commune doctor, but I have some right to know what is going on with my patients, with my family." He was angry, full of untold fury. I had never seen him angry before, and I had to admit it was somewhat disconcerting. Carlisle was always in control, never letting his emotions get the better of him. Alice brought out protective instincts in Carlisle; she was the daughter he didn't get out of Rose - affectionate and warm, full of life and happiness. Alice and Jasper both had been welcomed with open arms into Carlisle and Esme's makeshift family. Esme's inability to have children wasn't going to stop them from being parents.

He was right, though, he deserved to know what was going on. "Jasper left on a mission two days ago. He's checking out some supplies, making sure it's not a trap, and if possible, retrieving some of the supplies. Alice just had some vision and started screaming that we had to help him, had to so something. I don't even know where he is right now. I don't even know if we could find him, let alone get to him in time to save him."

Carlisle's livid gaze met mine. "He's all she's got. Her mind has already been pushed to its limits by whatever the Volturi did to her. It can't take much more strain, Edward." He paused, as though gathering his thoughts. "We need to find him. Wherever he is, he's obviously in need of medical help, if Alice's vision proves to be true. I think I should go."

He was joking. "What? No, absolutely not. You're needed here. I'm not going to risk this whole commune for one life." Bella gasped in the corner, not used to seeing this side of me. It was a cruel reality of my life, and she was going to have to get used to it. Carlisle was the only medical personnel we had, and he was not trained for missions. He had no idea how to survive outside the commune anymore. Sending him out there would be like sending a babe into the woods.

"If it was Bella you wouldn't be saying that," he said. I could tell he was furious. His face had taken on harsh, sharp angles as his eyes shot sparks at me. He looked inhuman in his rage, his normally placid face unused to such intensity of emotion.

"That's different," I protested. It was; Bella was my other half, my reason for living now. If she were taken from me, a wrath unlike anything ever unleashed on this earth before would drive me. I would stop at nothing until everything associated with her death was gone. By that time, I wouldn't be human anymore; I would be some creature of myth, stalking the earth.

"How is it different?" Bella quietly asked from her spot in the corner. I turned to face her. "Do you think Jasper is anything less to Alice than I am to you? Than you are to me? How is it different, Edward?" With each word, her volume grew, her voice got stronger, and more power filled her words.

"You're mine, and no one is ever going to take you from me," I snarled, my breathing becoming harsh.

"Stop it. Just . . . stop it," she whispered, closing her eyes. Shadows danced across her eyelids as the lights in the room flickered. "Just go and find him, Edward, please."

I stood there, breathing heavily for several moments. Thoughts of Bella in Jasper's place raced through my mind. Her soft brown eyes implored me from across the room, begging me to help her friend. "Fine." I stalked from the room and headed to the Cerebrum.

Emmett, Carlisle, and I wove our way through the foliage of the forest, doing our best to leave no evidence of our presence. It was difficult though; Carlisle had lived underground for so long that the topside was like a new world to him. He couldn't stop looking around, trying to take in everything he could. Being untrained in any kind of stealth maneuvers, he constantly trampled leaves and bumbled loudly along.

Surprisingly for his size, Emmett was as quiet as could be. If he hadn't been in front of me, I'm not sure I would have even known he was there. We were walking in a line, me at the very end, Carlisle in the middle, and Emmett in the lead. For about three hours now, we'd been searching the forest. It had taken us a little over two days to get to Vancouver. We'd been forced to take the ferry, risking discovery. All of us wore hats to cover our hair, but the tension during the ride had been palpable.

Once we arrived in British Columbia, a sense of calm settled over us. While still not completely safe from the Volturi, here, at least, we could move about with less caution. We didn't have to cover our hair or worry someone would realize we were part of the Resistance.

Entering the forest, though, put us back at risk. It was here that Volturi minions lurked, searching for people who thought to escape their power. According to them, there was no escaping your fate. Personally, fate could kiss my ass; I was the only one that controlled my future.

So far, we had found no indication that Jasper had ever been here. No drag marks, no bullet casings, no disturbance of flora, nothing. I was starting to give up hope, wondering if he had even made it this far before the Volturi got to him.

Carlisle came to a halt, and I narrowly avoid slamming into his back. "Damnit, Carlisle, a warning would be nice," I said. This mission had put me on edge; I snapped at every little thing. However, Carlisle seemed to realize I was at my limits and dealt calmly with my outbursts.

"Can you smell that?" he whispered, his eyes darting around, looking for something.

I pulled in a deep breath. The scent of dirt, wet leaves, decaying matter, and . . . blood filled my nostrils. "Blood," I confirmed. With caution, I slipped away from our little group, searching for the source. I crept among the large ferns and trees in my path, noting the tiniest of disturbances. Finally, I found a trail. Ferns were stamped down, leaves littered the pathway, and scraps of clothing and dried droplets of blood led the way. Summoning Emmett and Carlisle, we headed further in.

The further we went, the stronger the tangy, metallic scent of blood became. We had stumbled upon a blood bath.

One man lay dead with his face smashed in, completely unrecognizable. Two others lay next to each other; one with the side of his head caved in, bits of brain dangling out, mixing obscenely with the blood and dirt on the ground. The other's torso was covered in blood; cuts and deep purple bruises marred his face and upper body. As far as I could tell, all three were dead.

Carlisle strode over to the nearest body and checked for a pulse. When he found none, he moved on to the next body. Again, there was nothing. At the third body, he nearly shouted. "Edward, he's alive! He's alive!"

He whipped open the small medical case I had allowed him and went to work. He gently bathed the blood from the swollen face, revealing pale skin beneath the bruises and cuts. Pale blonde eyebrows arched over blackened eyes. It was Jasper.

"We need to stabilize him; he's got severe injuries. From what I can tell just looking at him: broken ribs, fractured fingers, a concussion, multiple lesions of varying depths, a possibly fractured cheekbone, and a broken wrist just to name a few."

Ever vigilant, I scanned the forest around us, searching for possible threats. Carlisle's shouts might have alerted others to our presence in the forest. "Do you think we can get him back to the commune safely?" I distractedly asked, my attention divided between Carlisle and our wellbeing. Adrenaline was beginning to course through my body, my muscles were tensing up, and the hairs on my body were standing at attention; I was ready for anything.

"His injuries are severe. I would be afraid to move him at this point, but we really have no choice. Emmett?"

An unusually serious Emmett walked over to Carlisle and gently lifted him. I came over to assist, and we managed to carefully place Jasper on Emmett's back. Pulling ropes out of a pouch around my waist, I strapped Jasper down. Carlisle removed the large black cloak from his back and draped it over them. It now looked like Emmett was a giant Hunchback of Notre Dome, but this was the safest way to get everyone back to the commune.

"He's suffered a fair amount of blood loss, so be very careful with him, Emmett. We don't need to do anything that could worsen his condition; it's bad enough as it is," Carlisle cautioned as we left the dense green undergrowth of the forest.

As quickly as we had managed to get here, we needed to return even faster; Jasper was barely alive.


	18. Chapter 18: Alice

**Alice's POV**

They brought him in a week ago, barely clinging to life. He was a bloody, beaten mess. I thought he was dead when they brought him in; I'd never seen him like this before. He'd been like a ragdoll, strapped to Emmett's back. His blood had soaked through Emmett's shirt to stain his skin. Jasper's blond hair was still tinged a light red from all the blood. His face had been a mangled mess, swollen and distorted. His shoulder had been cocked at an odd angle, the bone pushing obscenely against the skin. Each shallow breath he'd taken had appeared to cause him unending pain, his chest shuddering with the effort to draw in air, making a wet wheeze of distress.

Carlisle had quickly unstrapped him and moved him to a gurney as gently as possible. When he'd started to list off all of Jasper's injuries to Esme to write down, I'd started to cry. Silent tears at first, but they had soon turned into great big sobs with snot and drool. I had curled into a little ball on the floor, trying to keep the pain inside. Tears had dripped hot and wet down my face, mixing with the snot running from my nose.

I must have made a pretty picture when Rosalie pulled me up. She'd wiped my face with a cool, wet rag, whispering for me to calm down, that Carlisle would take care of Jasper.

Jasper was all I had left in a world gone wrong. He was my only anchor to a world I could barely remember. He thought only my memories with the Volturi were missing; I only remembered bits and pieces of my former life, and most of them were of him.

I couldn't remember my mother's face or my father's voice. I didn't know what my address had been or whether I had lived there my entire life. I knew that my favorite color was blue, like Jasper's eyes, and that I hated brussel sprouts. I could remember trivialities but nothing important. Nothing that would give me a clue to my past, to what had happened to me before Jasper had rescued me.

Even with Rosalie's reassurances, I couldn't calm myself. My sobs seemed to be harder and harder as I drew in great, hiccupping mouthfuls of air. It wasn't until black started to edge my sight that I was able to settle down. Slowly, my tears subsided, and my breathing evened out. Rosalie pulled back to look at me. "Better?" I just nodded, unable to meet her eyes. My tears stained her top, leaving a big wet spot. She was so strong, able to withstand anything, and here I was a wreck. I just focused on the wall behind her, waiting for her to leave.

"When I first got here I didn't speak for weeks, and I would go days without sleeping, just wandering the commune," she softly admitted before standing. "Everyone deals with things differently. It doesn't make you any weaker or stronger than others." She walked away then, leaving me to stare after her.

Rosalie and I had become friends. It was a different friendship than the one I had with Bella. No secrets were divulged and, in all honesty, our relationship was shallow at best. However, she provided me with something Bella could not: memories. Talking with Rose helped me to remember things. She would talk about something from up above, and, suddenly, I would remember something. Through her, I was regaining tidbits of my life. Nothing extremely important but they were dear to me, something I thought I had lost forever.

Until now, Rosalie had told me nothing about how she came to be here. And I hadn't told her she didn't need to because I already knew. It was very unusual for me to have visions about the past, but something triggered one. I'd woken Jazz, screaming. Rosalie didn't realize it, but she was stronger than me.

I still had nightmares about what had happened to her. The brutality of the attack had scarred my soul; it was something I would never forget. The men had pulled her off a busy New York street into an unmarked white van. The horror had only started there. They'd started beating her immediately, numerous punches to her face and torso. She was bruised and bloody within minutes, her features indistinguishable.

They had then proceeded to pin her down and rape her. She'd fought back, but they just kept beating her. One man had pinned her arms down as another put his hand over her mouth to keep her quiet, cutting off her oxygen supply in the process. She'd passed out after several minutes, but they'd kept going, each of the four men getting his turn.

I had stayed with her the whole van ride across the country. It was a never-ending trip of terror for her as they had beaten and raped her repeatedly. The second time, they'd pinned her down on her stomach and twisted one of her arms behind her back to keep her there. The bone had snapped, and, mercifully, she had passed out once more. Throughout the vision, I just kept praying for it to end and release me from its grasp.

Before they had dumped her body like a piece of garbage next to some trash cans in an alley, they'd raped her again. She didn't even look like Rose any more; she didn't look human. Just before she'd lost consciousness, the man raping her had leaned down to whisper in her ear, "I always knew you'd be a good fuck, Rosie-baby." Her eyes had swollen shut by then, but I watched the comprehension sweep through her body: this was someone she knew, someone close to her.

Once Edward had found her broken body, I had woken up. When Jasper had first touched me, I'd screamed, slapping his hands away. After I had realized it was him, I'd calmed down and allowed him to hold me. I didn't tell him what I'd dreamed about; it was Rose's business, and Rose's business alone.

Slowly, I climbed up off the floor; I couldn't stay in here any longer. I couldn't watch them work on Jasper. So I walked in a daze out of the infirmary right into a shit storm.

"Do you get it, Emmett? Do you?" Rosalie screamed with tears running down her cheeks. In the months since my arrival, I had never seen her cry – ever.

Emmett was slowly trying to back away from her, his hands up in surrender. "Calm down, Rosie."

"Don't you _ever_ fucking call me that!" Instead of trying to run away, Emmett moved towards her.

"Get the fuck away from me. I'm broken, used goods – don't you get it?" Her voice was full of pain, her blue eyes darkened in agony.

"I don't care; that doesn't matter to me," Emmett tried to comfort her. He was close enough now that he tried to pull her into a hug. She racked him and ran away.

In a daze, I walked over to him lying prostrate on the ground, cupping himself. "You fucking asshat. I told you she wasn't ready. Do you listen? No, you're too busy being a fucktard," I said, my voice dead, completely monotone.

He looked up at me in shock. I had never spoken to him this way before. "I told you, give her time. I told you, give her some space. You didn't do either. You were so determined to get into her pants, you wouldn't listen."

Emmett had recovered enough from the pain to sit up. "Why didn't you tell me what had happened to her?" he demanded, accusation shooting from his eyes.

For a moment, I looked away, staring in the direction Rosalie had run. I turned back to him. "It wasn't my story to tell." I turned and walked away, heading back to the rooms I shared with Jasper. I needed to be alone now.

Three days later, Emmett came slinking up to me, the very picture of a guilty child seeking forgiveness. I was sitting next to Jasper, holding his limp hand. He still hadn't woken up, and Carlisle was worried. I felt numb, a ghost of myself; I needed Jasper.

I ignored Emmett as he stood silently beside me. Finally, he spoke, "Alice, I'm sorry I didn't listen to you and royally fucked things up. Would you please help me make everything right?"

There was no way I was going to say no, but I needed to make him squirm for a little bit. Several minutes went by before I nodded. "This time, you will do everything I tell you, got it?"

He dutifully nodded. "Come by my rooms tomorrow. We'll start planning," I informed him.

He nodded again and turned to leave. "He'll get better, nugget. You'll see." I couldn't help but smile; he hadn't called me nugget since I had called him a fucktard. Apparently, all was now forgiven. He left the infirmary, whistling.

I wasn't alone long before Bella slipped in to stand by the foot of Jasper's bed. "How's he doing?"

"No better, no worse."

There was an awkward silence, as neither Bella nor I knew what to say.

"I'm sorry I didn't come to see you sooner . . . I don't deal well with blood."

"I know. It's all right . . . and thank you," I told her, taking my eyes off of my love to look at her. She had whisker burn on her neck, just under her chin.

"For what?" she asked, confusion crossing her face.

I looked at her for a moment, surprised she didn't realize. "I know you're the reason Edward went after him. If it wasn't for you, Jasper would be dead."

Bella blushed and looked down. "Oh, that. Well, um, I just thought that, um, if it was Edward, I wouldn't want to, you know . . ."she trailed off for a moment, " . . . I would want to do everything in my power to save him."

I just smiled at her. She was so cute, admitting her love for him in a rather roundabout way. "I know," I told her, as she continued to try and explain her scrambled thought process.

We slipped into silence, enjoying the peacefulness of it. Bella pulled a chair next to mine and sat down, grabbing my free hand in hers. I looked at her in surprise, and she gave it a squeeze, a small smile flitting across her chapped lips.

The friendship I had longed for was finally coming to fruition. I squeezed her hand back, thankful for her quiet, comforting presence. She was just what I needed to come back to myself; she gave me hope.

Jasper would live; I knew it.


	19. Chapter 19: Rosalie

**Rosalie's POV**

I warily eyed Emmett as he cautiously approached me.In the month since our confrontation, our relationship had stalled. Emmett treated me as if I were a delicate flower, likely to break into a million tiny pieces at the first hint of trouble. It was royally pissing me off.

"What, Emmett?" I snapped when he finally reached me. He opened his mouth to speak, took a good look at my irritated face, and sped off.

"Fuck you, too," I muttered to myself, discontent with everything. Nowadays, nothing made me happy. I was angry and irritable, in perpetual PMS.

Whenever I saw someone smile, I wanted to punch them in their happy face. I wasn't happy; why should they be? The mere sound of a giggle was enough to send me into a rampage. Nothing was funny; so why were they laughing?

I blamed it all on Emmett. Everything was his fault. My mood, my anger, my stress eating which had caused me to gain five pounds, my strange dreams at night…

"Rosalie?" a voice queried.

"What?" I growled as I spun around in my chair. "Oh, Alice, it's you."

"Yes, it's me." She paused, tilting her head to the side. "Do you want to talk? We'll both be off in an hour, and I could use some company before I go visit Jazz."

Well, fuck. What a way to guilt trip her. Jasper was still in the infirmary recuperating from his ordeal in the woods, and Alice spent as much time as she could with him. Edward wasn't even being a jackass about all the time off Alice was taking. Then again, _he_ was happy. He was in _love_, the fuckhead, and with the commander's daughter no less. Honestly, I was surprised Charlie hadn't found out yet; it's not like there was anything else to do down here except gossip.

I sighed. "Yes, that'd be great."

She smiled at me. "Great! I'll meet you outside the Cerebrum." And with that, she bounced back to her position in the Temporal Center. She was too fucking happy for her own good. I wasn't looking forward to this talk with her. She'd probably talk about happy things, like how much in love she and Jasper were, or how cute Bella and Edward looked together. Great, just thinking about it made me want to barf.

"What's wrong with you?" Edward asked, looking my face over, trying to figure out what had me in a mood.

"Nothing's fucking wrong with me, okay? I'm perfectly fine. What's wrong with you, huh? Your life's just so fucking perfect that everyone else's is messed up. Is that it?" I was practically screaming now. I had risen from my chair and was yelling in Edward's face, and I really didn't know why. It felt damn good, though.

I stood there looking at him as I panted, and for the first time in a month, I felt all right. I felt like me. Edward studied me quietly, staring deeply into my eyes. Finally, mine lowered. "I think I'll clock out early today."

"I think that would be a good idea." I just nodded absently and gathered my things. Alice would be off soon, so I would just go wait for her in the mess hall. "Rosalie," Edward called after me. "Listen to her; she might say something worthwhile."

I snorted and continued on my way; there were no secrets down here.

"I know what happened to you." No hello, no greeting of any kind, just this bomb as she sat down on the seat across from me.

I cocked an eyebrow. "Really? How interesting."

"You can act like it never happened, Rose, but until you accept what happened, you can't get over it." So now she was a fucking therapist?

A hollow laugh escaped my mouth, even though I didn't find this situation remotely funny. "Yes, _accept_ what happened to me. And what exactly happened to me, Alice?"

Big grey eyes stared solemnly back at me, boring into my own like she was examining my brain with a fine-toothed comb. "Have you ever told anyone what happened? Talked with anyone about it?"

"No, it's nobody's fucking business but my own, and I'd appreciate it if you'd keep your little nose out of it," I all but growled at her.

Her head tilted to the side as she contemplated what I'd said. "I don't think I can do that. You're my friend and you need help; I am here to offer you help so you can finally get over this thing and get on with your life. It's time to stop living in the past, Rosalie. There's a great future waiting for you, but you have to make the next move."

"You know what? I'm sick of this conversation; I'm leaving." What a fantastic fucking ending to a fantastic fucking day.

"Rosalie, think about this: 'To be able to move on, one has to learn to forgive not only the people who have done one wrong but also oneself.'"

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" I was tired of her riddles. If she wanted to tell me something, then she should just come right out and say it.

"You made a bad choice; that's life, but now you need to forgive yourself and move on."

As if in slow motion I felt the blood drain from my face as I sank back down into the seat.

"What do you mean?" I whispered.

"You loved him at one time, but you put your love in the hands of someone who did not deserve that love. It hurts, doesn't it? To know something so special was used against you, the ultimate act of betrayal. But then, that's just what they wanted."

Tears pushed relentlessly at my lash line, but I refused to let them fall; I would not be weak. "He was so charming and so sweet to me. He became my world, and I thought I was his. I was so wrong. I was nothing but a job."

"To forget, you have to forgive. I think it's high time you forgave yourself for being young and stupid. We fall so that we can pick ourselves back up. Your fall was just a little more brutal than others'." With that last statement, Alice stood up and walked daintily from the room.

For a long while I just sat there, staring at the chair where Alice had been sitting. She was right; it was time for me to move on. I stood up and walked quickly from the room.

Swiftly, I weaved through the corridors, intent on my destination. Once I reached it, I raised my hand to knock on the door. I couldn't allow myself anytime to think, I had to act quickly.

Within seconds of my fist hitting the door, it opened. "I like you, too," I said before jerking his head down to mine and pressing my lips against his.

A/N: Alice's quote ('To be able to move on, one has to learn to forgive not only the people who have done one wrong but also oneself') can be attributed to Eugenia Tripputi.


	20. Chapter 20: Edward

**Edward's POV**

I gently swiped my thumb underneath Bella's eyes, tracing the dark circles marring her pale skin. "Are you having trouble sleeping?" I quietly asked, leaning down to press my lips to her closed eyelids.

She slowly opened her eyes and blinked several times before her gaze came back into focus. "Hmm?"

"Have you been sleeping well?" She averted her eyes from mine, focusing on something across the room. "Bella?" I turned her head towards me, forcing her to look at me. A slight flush filled her cheeks.

"Some nights I do, and some nights I don't," she finally admitted. What she didn't say was it was the nightmares keeping her awake at night. I knew her too well not to suspect the cause of her insomnia.

I gently kissed her forehead and tucked her tighter against my side. We were lying on top of the covers of my bed, relaxing and talking. I had never thought I could be content doing something so simple, but I was so wrong. Lying in bed with Bella in my arms was the best thing in the world; I couldn't wait to make her mine. After several minutes of us lying in silence, Bella drifted off to sleep, and I followed suit.

"Get up, _now_," a voice growled at the doorway of my room. I jerked up, my hand flying to the weapon that wasn't at my side. Blearily, I focused my eyes on the figure in the doorway. "What the hell is this?" Charlie demanded.

"It's not what it looks like, Dad," Bella insisted, scrambling off the high bed.

"And what does it look like, exactly?" He was furious, barely containing his rage. He was looking at me like he'd love nothing more than to dismember me, starting with my balls. In his eyes, I had defiled his innocent daughter, and I was going to pay.

"Like-like-like we were having – like we had been – like we were sleeping together," Bella stuttered, her face flushing the brightest shade of red I had ever seen. She was utterly mortified at being caught in this position, even though we hadn't done anything; Bella was the forever type of girl, the marrying type.

"And that's not what you were doing, sleeping?" Charlie asked, deliberately twisting Bella's words. He was getting angrier by the minute, his face turning an alarming shade of purple as his moustache twitched furiously. I needed to say something.

"Charlie, nothing happened." I looked him dead in his eyes, the same eyes that Bella had; it was disconcerting to look at my commander and see her eyes looking back at me.

Charlie continued to glare at me, not content just yet to forgive my indiscretion. Finally, he grunted and stalked from the room. Bella sank back down on my bed and covered her face with shaking hands.

"Oh, that was awful," she moaned. I joined her on the bed and pulled her into my arms, kissing her head.

"Look at me," I instructed. She raised shame filled eyes to mine. "There is nothing to be embarrassed about; we were doing nothing wrong."

"Still, my father walked in on us sleeping together when he didn't even know we were, you know . . . " She trailed off and shifted her eyes back down to the coverlet.

"What? We were what? Dating?" Was she really having trouble admitting something of such inconsequence? My little Bella was a prude, raised in the most sheltered of lives; she couldn't even say that we were dating without becoming uncomfortable. She hadn't even been able to say the word sex.

"I'm going to marry you, Bella, so you had best prepare yourself for that inevitability. You're mine," I said before crushing her soft lips beneath mine.

The kiss quickly caught fire, and I moved our bodies to the center of the large bed, rolling Bella underneath me. I trailed kisses down her neck and across her exposed collarbone as she panted harshly, making her small breasts rapidly rise and fall.

Unsure of her response, I cupped my hand over her left breast, softly brushing my thumb back and forth across the peaked nipple. She gasped and arched farther into my hand.

Quickly, I brought my lips back to hers before she could voice a protest. I wanted to break my little prude out of her shell. I slipped my left hand under her shirt, bracing my weight on my right. When my hand feathered across her bare skin, she broke from the kiss. "Edward, what are you doing?" she shakily questioned.

"Loving you," I murmured into her pounding pulse before moving to press kisses on her exposed belly. Her hands threaded through my hair, unsure if they wanted to push me away or pull me closer.

"I-I don't think we're supposed to be doing this."

"Hush, Bella. Don't think; feel." I swiftly pulled her shirt over her head, leaving her in her bra and jeans. Her hands slammed down to cover her breasts, which still left her stomach bare. So, I trailed wet kisses across her stomach, dipping my tongue into her belly button and making her gasp, before nuzzling her hips bones and along the edges of her jeans.

"Ed-Edward? I feel funny." I looked up into Bella's unfocused eyes, her pupils dilated to the point of almost swallowing the iris. I hitched myself back up her body to press my lips once again to hers.

"That's normal, love," I reassured her.

"I'm not so sure; I've never felt this way before."

"You've never desired someone before." Carefully, I slipped my tongue into her mouth, coaxing her tongue to play with mine. My hand slid down her quivering stomach to the button on her jeans, quickly popping it open and working the zipper down before slipping inside to cup her through her underwear.

Her hips spasmodically arched into me, pressing my hand more firmly against her. Gently, I caressed her through the cloth until she came apart in my arms.

Tears leaked slowly from her eyes as she came down from her high. She blinked sleepily up at me before closing her eyes and falling asleep.

I groaned and rolled away, the throbbing in my pants having my full focus. Sex wasn't an option with Bella yet, so my dick was going to have to take a rain check. Getting slowly off the bed, I turned the lock on the door; I didn't need Charlie walking in on us again. Carefully, I climbed back on the bed and turned onto my side and pulled Bella into me, trying not to stab her with my raging hard-on. Soon enough, I fell asleep with my face buried in Bella's sweet smelling hair, my arm wrapped just underneath her breasts and my leg in between hers.

Charlie and I had been assiduously avoiding each other for the past three weeks, ever since he'd caught Bella and me napping together. Now, though, we could avoid each other no longer. Two more communes had been discovered and obliterated in the past month. Who knew who was next? It seemed no one was safe any longer. We had made the first move, and the Volturi had made theirs in response – the deaths of hundreds of rebels. Through the process of elimination, we had figured out that the men Jasper had killed were Demetri and Felix, a definite start to ending the reign of the Volturi, but nowhere near to cutting off the head of the snake.

The bloody triumvirate was still in power. They hadn't left Volterra since the beginning of their time in power, content to be vicious puppet masters controlling the strings of murderers and sadists. I had come to the conclusion the only way we were going to have any chance of getting to those three old men was by infiltrating Volterra. That, in and of itself, was a conundrum.

No one entered Volterra who was not invited, and no one left who was not excused. It was a fortress, impossible to penetrate.

Charlie, Emmett, Rosalie, Alice, a now healed Jasper, and I had been holed up in the Cerebrum for the past few days, trying to find a way into Volterra. All of us had accepted that the possible fate of the intruder was death once they had killed Aro, Caius, and Marcus, but they would become the martyr of our movement. The death of the evil three would finally allow us to make some headway in regaining our country, instead of staying at this infuriating standstill. We just had to find a way in.

Every idea that was presented was discarded: too risky, too difficult, too stupid, too far-fetched, too simple. I began to despair of ever finding a way into Volterra.

"I've got an idea!" Emmett suddenly exclaimed, startling all of us as we sat tiredly hunched in the chairs around a table holding a map of Volterra. We all looked dubiously at him. So far, all of his ideas had fallen into the too stupid category. "Now, now, hear me out." He looked at Alice, mischief glimmering in his eyes. "Alice, you were the one that got away. I bet they would do just about anything to get you back."

Alice shifted uncomfortably in her seat as Jasper exploded. "No fucking way! You are not sending her back into that depravity after all I did to get her out of it. You don't know what they did to her in there. _She_ doesn't know what they did to her there."

"He's right, Jazz. They would do anything to get me back," she admitted in a whisper-soft voice. Desolation filled her eyes as she began to realize she might be the only way into Volterra.

"Alice – " Charlie began, clearly uncomfortable with the situation.

"No, I need to face my demons. And Emmett's right; this is our ticket in."

"Alice," Rosalie said, looking at her friend with concern.

"No, I once told you that to move on, one has to forgive oneself and the wrongdoers. It's time I found out what I need to forgive others for and what I need to forgive myself for." And with that she stood up and walked calmly from the room. We sat in silence for long minutes, contemplating what had just happened.

"You have no idea what you're forcing her to go through," Jasper practically growled at Emmett.

"Oh, and you do?" Emmett asked.

"No, and fuck you. I may not know what she's been through, but I can see the scars it's left on her. I deal with those scars every night when she wakes me up screaming and crying. Who knows what the fuck those sick bastards did to her in there. And you want to send her back to them."

I had kept my silence for long enough. "Jasper, I think we both know Alice wouldn't have agreed to this if she wasn't okay with it. She's never done anything in her time here that she hasn't wanted to. She needs to finish her healing process – this is it."

Jasper's jaw clenched and unclenched as he brought his anger under control. Finally, he jerkily nodded his head and stood, knocking his chair over before stalking from the room. The tension in the room diffused upon his departure.

Again, we sat in silence, contemplating our plan.

"I'm the only one the Volturi don't know. I should take her in," Emmett said, breaking the fragile quiet. Rosalie's head darted in his direction. A strange relationship, at least in my view, had developed between the two in the past few weeks. Sex was obviously a large part of it if the strange and loud noises that came from Emmett's rooms indicated anything, but something in it had softened Rose and matured Emmett. He'd become very important to her and she to him; they had become essential parts of each other's lives. He mellowed her out and she made him behave. Bella said Emmett had fixed Rose and made her whole again. I was going to withhold my judgment on that for a while.

"I suggested the idea; I should help execute it. I'm almost unknown to the Volturi. Whoever attacked me in the forest had no idea who I was. All they knew was that I wasn't a follower of the Volturi. I'm perfect for this . . . and I play stupid well."

Charlie nodded his head and looked at me for confirmation. I signaled my agreement; we had our plan of attack.


	21. Chapter 21: Emmett

**Emmett's POV**

We had been traveling for weeks across the country on our way to the Volturi stronghold in New York: Volterra. It was the dead of winter, and the barren landscape seemed the perfect background to our mission. It was a death mission, and we were surrounded by death.

The night before leaving, Rose and I had stayed up the whole night, loving each other. Our hunger for each other was never sated; I couldn't get enough of her, her sweet smell, her soft mouth, her luscious body – I would always need her. The moment I saw her face hovering over mine I knew she was going to be someone important in my life. She had become my everything; nothing mattered more to me than her well-being. I knew, without a doubt, I would kill for her. That was what I was going to do, kill for her.

She deserved a life better than the one she had. She didn't deserve to live underground, never seeing the light of day, eking out an existence deep beneath the earth. I looked over at Alice. She had been quiet for most of the journey, barely talking. I found her silence disturbing since she was never quiet. I didn't know what to do, and I felt responsible for her upset.

"Emmett?" Alice queried, walking beside me through the deep snow covering the ground.

"Yeah, nugget?"

"Stop feeling guilty." I smiled. I loved Alice's quirks; they endeared her to me.

Alice and I had been walking for close to two weeks now, with another two weeks to go if we continued at the same pace. Edward had estimated it would take us a month to walk from the commune to Volterra. We had 2,400 miles to walk with us traveling at about three miles per hour, covering ten miles about every three hours. The snow and weather had made the going difficult, setting us back several days when we'd been waylaid by a blizzard in Little Big Horn Territory, or what was eastern Montana.

We hadn't been in contact with the commune since we'd left; it was too risky to talk on radios since the Volturi could tap into our frequency. They had no idea where we were or how we were doing. They wouldn't know if our mission had succeeded until long after it had taken place.

It reminded me of the Civil War and how it had taken over a month for word to reach the rest of the country that the war had ended following Lee's surrender at Appomattox. It could be months before the commune knew anything, months before they knew if we were alive.

I sighed. "Focus on the here and now, Emmett. Today is for the present not the future," Alice instructed me as she continued to tromp through the heavy snowfall. She squealed as she sank into a deep snowdrift. I laughed and plucked her out. It was one of the few moments of levity we'd had in this difficult journey.

I found it ironic that Alice would tell me to focus on the present when her visions focused on the future. "Our actions in the present affect the future," Alice informed me as she carefully made her way through the deep, pristine snow.

"I'm going to have to ask you to stop doing that. You're supposed to be psychic, not telepathic, and, therefore, not creepy." After awhile, her insights into my thoughts got on my nerves and gave me the chills.

"Hush, Emmett, your ignorance is showing." I didn't have a response to that, so I just pushed her into a large snowdrift and enjoyed the shriek of surprise and rage that emerged from her.

"You're going to pay for that, Emmett McCarty!"

I laughed. "You'll have to climb out of there to seek your revenge, nugget. From where I'm standing, you're at a distinct disadvantage." Cold, wet snow smacked into the side of my face before dripping down into my collar and sliding wetly down my back.

It was war.

We had to seek shelter after our snowball fight. Our clothes were soaked, and we needed to get a fire going to warm back up before nightfall and the dropping of the temperature. Quickly, we built a rudimentary shelter from fallen logs in the nearby woods before building a fire out of any dry tinder we could find. Before long, we were de-thawing our numb hands in front of the warm blaze.

"How much further do you think we have to go?" Alice asked, shivering slightly as a cold breeze blew over us and whistled through the trees.

"I'd say we're in the Big Water Region . . . Minnesota," I clarified since Alice was still catching up on all she had missed while under the Volturi's control. "So, maybe a few more weeks? Three at the most. We're making good time, all things considered." We sat in silence for several moments, listening to the fire crackle and pop as it devoured the wood. I added more branches, leaves being no good as they would send up a giant smoke signal.

"I don't like not knowing what's going to happen."

"What do you mean?" I asked. All this time, I had figured that Alice had been so quiet during our journey because she was receiving constant visions about what was going to happen once we reached Volterra.

"I can't see anything; everything's blank. I have no idea what's going to happen, Emmett. I'm flying blind," Alice admitted in a small, quivery voice.

"So you can't see how things are going to go down. Welcome to the lives of us mortals. This just means we've got to be on the top of our game."

"What if they drug me and I reveal the commune's location?"

"Well, that would be a little difficult since you don't actually know where the commune's located," I reminded her, trying to calm her sudden panic. "Breathe, Alice. Everything is going to be fine."

"How can you say that, Emmett? You don't know! We could die. Jasper could die. Edward could die. Bella could die. Rosalie could die!"

"Stop it," I said, getting up and shaking her small frame gently. "Right now. You just need to calm yourself down and get a grip. Everything will be fine, because I choose to believe it will. You need to think positively; positive thoughts lead to positive results."

"I'm scared," she whispered tearfully. "I'm not ready to die."

"Good, it means you'll do your damnedest to stay alive." I stared intently into the fire, listening to her sniffle quietly into her sleeve. Fear was normal; we were on a suicide mission. I had to be harsh with her. Out here we only had each other to depend on. Eventually, Alice's sniffles died out, and when I looked over at her, she had curled up into a little ball by the fire and fallen asleep, clearly exhausted by her emotional outpouring. I decided to get some sleep, too, and banked the fire before pulling my coat around my body and falling asleep.


	22. Chapter 22: Bella

**Bella's POV**

I missed Alice. I missed her spunk, her joy, and her zest for life. I missed her nosiness and verbosity. Strangely, I even missed her bossiness. And I missed Emmett. He was such a big teddy bear, always ready to play around and joke. I could tell that Rosalie was really missing him. She was always walking the corridors by herself, seemingly deep in thought. One time, I had gone to see her late at night. Just as I had been about to knock, I heard her crying inside, so I left. She was very snippy with people and had an extremely short temper, even compared to her usual one. Edward said she was back to being her old self. He said other things that I won't repeat, too.

They had been gone for two months, almost three now, and everyday we grew more and more worried about them. We hadn't been in contact with them at all, the risk of being discovered too great. I could tell Edward was on edge, though he tried to hide it from me. Everyday, I wondered how far they had traveled, if they had even reached Volterra yet. What would happen once they reached Volterra? Would they be able to get in and launch our plan of attack? Everything was riding on Emmett and Alice; it was scary as hell.

My relationship with Edward had grown stronger since Alice and Emmett had left. Sometimes, I wondered if he thought he was going to lose me and was trying to make the most out of his time with me. His intensity frightened me at times and made me think about my feelings for him. Personally, it was scary to think just how much Edward meant to me. At this point, I felt like I would die if he were taken from me. In a few short months, he had become my whole world.

I understood Rosalie's pain. Her soul mate was gone, off on a dangerous operation that had all but been labeled a suicide mission. Her soul craved its other half and would continue to do so until they were back in each other's arms. I imagine I would be just like Rose if Edward ever left me.

Rosalie came barreling into the Cerebrum, waving a sheet of paper and screaming at the top of her lungs. I started from the daze I was in, realizing I had been derelict in my duty as guard. Edward sprinted into the room from wherever he had been, gun drawn. "Goddamnit, Rosalie! I thought we were under attack!"

"No, but a message came through from Emmett," she told him, grinning from ear to ear.

Edward and I hurried over to her just as Charlie dashed in to the room. "What does it say?" I asked.

"What does what say? And what is all the screaming about?" Charlie demanded with a scowl.

"Emmett sent out a message. It just says, 'I'm in.'"

"Damn fool boy, sending out a message," Charlie grumbled, though he was clearly relieved that Emmett and Alice seemed to be all right. Surely, if either of them were in danger, the message would have said so.

"Do . . . do you think he sent it from inside Volterra?" I asked cautiously, unsure how wise that would have been.

"I don't know," Rose admitted. "All I know is that the message came in from the northeastern seaboard and was in a Fibonacci sequence."

There was a pregnant pause. "Fibonacci?" Charlie parroted, clearly astounded Emmett would even know what that was.

Edward laughed, a somewhat breathy sound. "Well, I'll be. The stupid fucker did it; he got in."

"The only 'stupid fucker' I see is you," Rosalie hissed before storming from the room, the missive clenched in her hand.

"And I see we will continue in the role of pining, distraught girlfriend," Edward muttered before rubbing his hand tiredly over the back of his neck. I gave him a reprimanding glance; he knew Rose was very touchy about certain things these days . . . okay, everything.

"Charlie, can you call a meeting in thirty minutes? We've got things to talk about."

He nodded and left the room. Sometimes, I questioned who was really in charge, Edward or my father.

Once he left the room, Edward pulled me to his chest, softly brushing a kiss on my forehead, across my eyelids and cheeks, before stopping at my mouth. He lingered there for several seconds before continuing on to my neck, nuzzling into my quickly beating pulse.

I let out a shaky breath. "Ed-edward, should we do that here? Someone might walk in."

"I don't care," he petulantly stated into my skin, clearly beyond minding if anyone knew about us anymore.

Slowly, I drew in a deep breath and pulled out of his arms. He frowned and tried to pull me back. "You may not care, but my father does. He refuses to say anything about us and acts like our relationship doesn't even exist."

"Fine," he grumbled. He was unmistakably displeased with the situation and intent on making sure I was aware of this.

"Besides, you have a meeting you need to get to."

Edward heaved a big sigh before pulling me in for one last kiss. "Will I see you tonight?"

"Yes, I'll slip out once Charlie's asleep." Initially, Edward had tried to sleep in my bed, but Charlie can apparently sense the presence of a Y-chromosome within five feet of me, and we were quickly discovered.

If I thought Charlie had been mad before, I was sorely mistaken. In fact, if Edward wasn't so important to the resistance, I think my father would have gladly killed him.

So, now I slipped out to sleep in Edward's rooms. My father had yet to indicate he had any idea I wasn't sleeping in my own bed, and I was hoping it would stay that way.

After Edward left, I headed towards the infirmary to spend some time with Esme. When she wasn't helping Carlisle with patients, she chatted with me. Lately, she had been telling me stories about when Edward first came here. He'd been deathly ill with some form of the Spanish influenza the Volturi had released. Everyday I learned more and more about the depravities of those evil old men. I did't even think I could be shocked anymore about things they had done. It worried me that I was quickly becoming desensitized to the atrocities of our world.

Before I came here, I knew nothing about the resistance other than my father was in command and it wasn't safe for us above ground. Now, I knew too much.

"Bella!" Esme exclaimed, surprised to see me. Yesterday I had told her I was going to be spending the day with Edward in the Cerebrum as "guard" since he didn't like having me out of his sight.

"Hey, Esme," I said with a big smile. I loved talking with her even though she made me miss my mom even more. She was so warm and loving, and exceptionally maternal. "Edward had to call a special meeting, so I thought I'd come chat with you."

"Of course, dear, I'd love that. Is there anything in particular you want to talk about?"

Shyly, I looked at the ground, tracing circles in the dirt with the tip of my shoes. "When . . . when, did you know you loved Carlisle?"

She smiled at me and pulled me over to sit down on a threadbare couch, its frame clearly broken. It wasn't that comfortable, but it was better than nothing.

"I was sixteen when I first met Carlisle Cullen. I'd fallen out of a tree I'd climbed with my sister and broken my leg. I just remember that it hurt so bad, and I just wanted the pain to stop. My sister was screaming bloody murder, and my mother came running out of the house in just her slip. She was so mad!" Esme chuckled softly, reminiscing.

"We weren't supposed to be climbing the tree; our mother had gotten on to us about that all the time, saying we were going to break our necks. Mother had to call Daddy home from work to take me to the hospital, and I about passed out when he picked me up off the ground to put me in the truck. By the time we reached the county hospital I was drenched in sweat, and my mother was beside herself with worry, thinking my leg was going to need to be amputated. Turns out I'm just a big baby.

"Then Carlisle showed up, and all of my pain went away. I stopped crying and started worrying what a mess I looked. He was the most beautiful man I had ever seen, but he was older than me; I was just a teenager. When he set my leg, he apologized for causing me more pain. I'd never had a doctor apologize before that."

"And that's when you knew you loved him?" I interrupted, feeling like Esme was taking too long to get to the point while wandering down memory lane.

She laughed and shook her head. "No, I was just a girl at the time. I didn't know what love was. No, after he set my leg and put a cast on me, I didn't see him again until I was twenty-six. I married the neighbor boy right out of high school and right away we tried to start a family. We . . . had difficulty, and he blamed me for it. He accused me of being on the pill or having my tubes tied every month when I had my period. It was my fault we couldn't conceive, not his." Esme paused in her narrative and took a deep breath. "I should have known then it wasn't going to work out. I don't actually remember the day he first hit me, and I definitely don't remember what provoked it. I knew I needed to get out, and just as I had everything in place to leave, I found out I was pregnant. Finally, after all those years of trying, I was pregnant. I won't lie and tell you I was upset, because I wasn't, not at all. Becoming pregnant was the best thing that ever happened to me.

"You know, I think that's probably the first time he looked at me with love in his eyes. It wasn't for me though; it was for our baby. I was okay with that, strangely enough, because I didn't love him either. Oh, Bella. I absolutely loved being pregnant! Every time I felt the baby kick or flutter his fingers across my belly I was filled with so much love. It's such an indescribable feeling, the most wonderful thing in the world. The happiest time in our marriage was when I was pregnant. My husband didn't yell at me or hit me; I finally felt cherished. When our baby was born . . . " Esme sighed happily with tears glistening in her eyes. My own eyes had misted up as she told me about her baby.

"When our baby was born it was the happiest day of my life. I love Carlisle, but not even realizing I loved him could trump the day my baby was born. He was beautiful. Six pounds, two ounces, twenty-two inches long; he was gorgeous, the most perfect being on earth. It wasn't long after I went home that I knew something was wrong with John. He had trouble breathing when I put him down in his crib, and then he developed this awful cough. So, I took him back into the hospital, where they admitted him with a lung infection. He died two days later. I still remember watching him struggle to breathe. You could see his little lungs fighting to fill with air, laboring to get in the smallest amount of oxygen. I sat there watching his chest fight to rise, and then falling just as quickly. Rise and fall, rise and fall. Then, it just didn't rise. I knew he was dead, but I didn't want to believe it."

She paused and took a deep breath before continuing. "Charles blamed me for John's death, said I was such a worthless mother that I'd killed our baby just days after he was born. We started fighting in the hospital, in John's room. Apparently one of the nurses became alarmed when she heard us shouting and rushed in with the on-call doctor who had just arrived. They walked in right as Charles hit me in the face."

"Was the doctor Carlisle?" I asked, desperate to know.

"Yep, it was Carlisle. He rushed in and tackled Charles to the ground and started punching him in the face. The security guards had to pull him off of Charles. After the police removed Charles and Carlisle left to give his statement, I just . . . broke down. They hadn't even removed John's body from the room yet, and I sobbed all over him. I didn't want to believe my baby was dead. Carlisle came back in a couple minutes later and hugged me. I just kept crying, 'Why?' as he rocked me back and forth in his arms. Even today I still wonder, 'Why? Why my son?' I'll probably never know. Anyway, Carlisle helped me with funeral preparations and provided moral support as I got a restraining order and divorced Charles. Five months after he came back into my life he asked me out. I asked him what took him so long; I'd only been waiting forever.

"It was during one of our many visits to John's grave that I realized I loved him. I don't think I fell in love with him when I was sixteen, but I had definitely been waiting for him." Esme finished her narrative and looked at me. I was sniffing with tears slowly trailing down my cheeks. She had such a sad story, and I wondered if that's how people reacted to my life.

"Why didn't you have anymore kids if you wanted them so badly?"

"Two years after Carlisle and I got married, I found out I had stage three ovarian cancer. They had to remove everything. Sometimes I wonder if maybe I wanted children too bad. I know that's stupid, but I can't help but think it. Carlisle and I were going to adopt when the Volturi came into power. We went underground not long after that. I've become a bit of a commune mother instead." A small, loving smile flitted across Esme's pale face, enhancing the classic beauty of her heart-shaped face and caramel waves. "It's not exactly like having my own children, but I still love it."

We sat in silence for several minutes, internalizing our conversation. After a while I turned to Esme and hugged her. "Thank you," I whispered into her ear.

"What for?" she asked, clearly puzzled that I was thanking her for anything.

"I love Edward."


	23. Chapter 23: Alice

**Alice's POV**

Rose needed to know; she needed to know. I needed to hurry and find her and tell her she was . . . wait, what if she already knew? What if she knew but didn't want Emmett to know? Was that even possible? They were soul mates, like me and Jasper.

I loved Jasper; he was my everything, I didn't know what I would do without him. Ever since I was little, we had been together, always, except for my time in New York at school. It was awful there; I hated every moment. Well, not every moment.

The first month there was wonderful. In the mornings we had orientation, but the afternoons were all ours. Girls I befriended on the plane would go shopping with me in Soho and Tribeca. All of the shoes and clothes and handbags and accessories - a girl's dream come true.

Any girl but Bella; that wouldn't be Bella's dream come true. She wasn't materialistic like me. Bella liked books and stories and happily ever afters and romance. She was perfect for Edward; he was such an old world gentleman.

"I'm going to enlist. There's nothing you could say that would deter me; it's decided," Edward told some stern-looking man with slicked back brown hair. A female replica of Edward sat beside him, a strained look on her face as she clenched her little hands together.

"You're seventeen, Edward; you need a parent's permission, and you're not getting it from me," the man, his father, tensely told him.

Charlie said the same thing . . . or did he? Sometimes it's so hard to keep everything straight. Oh, I remember! He was muttering to himself in the Occipital Center, something about not approving, and he wasn't going to let his daughter be taken advantage of, and even in an underground commune, there were rules of decency.

I hope he hadn't heard me and Jasper making love. We weren't always very quiet, but sometimes I just . . . lost my head. He had a way of doing that to me. That night before when he went down on me and started licking . . .

I wonder how far Edward and Bella had gone? Even though it had been like pulling teeth, I did finally manage to get some details from Bella about their relationship. My little innocent just so happened to like being dominated by her man. I was always up for a good domination, but there were times I enjoyed being the dominant one; so did Jasper.

Perhaps Edward was like Jasper and would enjoy Bella taking over. I bet it'd about make him jizz in his pants. I would kill to see Edward lose control like that; he's so uptight and rigid.

Rigid, like that stupid cell I stayed in while with the Volturi, those bastards.

_Holy shit_, I remembered something. For the first time since Jasper rescued me, I _remembered_ something. Oh, Jazz was going to be so happy! It'd been killing him that I couldn't remember anything.

What was my favorite color? Yellow, that was stupid, that question's too easy.

Where do I want to honeymoon? Malta, danggit, still too easy.

I know! What the hell happened to me when I was with the Volturi? A huge fucking blank, that's what. When I found out what those fuckers did to me, I was going to . . .

Wasn't I supposed to be killing them now? I'm pretty sure that's what I was supposed to be doing, playing ninja assassin. Although, I'd really have to redesign that outfit before I could wear it. Full-face coverings were rarely flattering and would totally ruin my hair.

Oooh! Maybe if I put sexy black lace or netting, like a birdcage veil, instead of that awful black canvas? And I would definitely have to do little half-gloves. Perhaps a nice butter-soft leather that would breathe? My outfit would be to die for!

I didn't particularly want to die though. Jasper and I still had at least three kids to start on, a charming little Tudor to make home, and many, many vacations to take. There was simply too much for me to do to die now.

And Bella! She needed so much assistance. The child couldn't dress herself in the dark, let alone plan a wedding. She just didn't know that yet. I had the most _stunning_ dress picked out for her; I just needed to get a message out to my designer friend so she could start . . .

Did Emmett get his message out? I don't know; I haven't seen him in a while. Wasn't he supposed to make sure the Volturi didn't experiment on me again?

Again . . . again . . . why again? Did they before. _Jesus, fuck, that's it_. But how? And why? Why couldn't I remember what they did? Think harder, Alice. You just. Have. To. Think. _Harder_.

Oh, sweet Lord, it hurt. It hurt so fucking much; the pain took my breath away, making it difficult to breathe. It was like having an out-of-body experience. It hurt but not really. I sucked in a deep breath.

_"There and there. I know for sure there are at least two communes. It appears they headed underground, like the vermin they are. They often group together in clusters, unknowingly, so where you find one you'll often find another."_

_ I knew that voice. _I recognized that voice. _But from where? I had to focus._

_ "Very good, Laurent. You will be well rewarded for your service, especially in light of your injuries in the line of duty." That was the creepiest voice I had ever heard, and it belonged to the creepiest man I had ever seen._

_ Laurent seemed pleased with how things were going though. Why was the scary old guy going over there?_

_ "It's really a shame, though, that they weren't competent enough to finish the job, instead leaving it to me to deal with."_

_ Everyone but Laurent knew where this was going. "Pardon, your Excellency?" Laurent queried. What a fucking idiot. He's going to kill you, you dumbfuck!_

_ "Caius?" _

_ "Gladly, my brother." Well, apparently there were two creepy old guys. No . . . there were three. Where was that last fucker? Aha! Mopey over there._

_ Caius lit Laurent on fire with a jeweled lighter before pushing him into some flammable liquid. The acrid smell of burning flesh filled the air, along with the excruciating death screams of the victim. _

_ "Search his quarters, he's hiding something," the first creepy man instructed._

_ "Aro, don't you think it would have been better to have asked him about your suspicions before killing him? It makes it all the harder to find information and the smell is quite awful," Mopey stated in the most apathetic of voices. _

_ "No, Marcus, dear. My way is the best way." With that, Aro strode elegantly from the room. I envied his glide. I had worked for hours on mine, and it was nowhere near as perfect as his._

I felt a tug about my bellybutton and sucked in a deep breath, preparing for the next vision.

_Blood, blood everywhere. On the ground, on my hands, on my clothes; _everywhere_. There was screaming too, lots of screaming. I heard Bella's voice and saw her running across the blood-covered field. Edward was close behind her . . . trying to stop her?_

_ She was running towards something . . . or someone. I needed the damn smoke to clear to see where she was running. _

_ Why was there so much damn smoke? Were we back in the Civil War? Everything was laser powered; no one used cannons anymore. There was no reason for all of this smoke unless . . . unless something was on fire. Bella must be running towards some burning building in an attempt to save someone, but whom? Bella wasn't the heroic type; she was the hide until the danger's over type. Rosalie was the person I would expect to run towards a burning building. Or Edward. I bet Edward was trying to stop Bella from doing something stupid._

_ "Bella, stop! No!" Edward screamed frantically, trying to catch up with her. A shot rang out, and Bella crumpled to the ground. Oh no, oh no, this was bad. This was really, really bad._

_ I needed to find Charlie . . . and Dr. Cullen. I turned around to find someone and found bodies all around. Limbs scattered about haphazardly in the red-tinged grass, people with their empty eyes staring back at me. Empty eyes . . . _

Pain shot through my whole body making me gasp. I was going to throw up if they didn't stop shaking me, whoever they were.

"C'mon, nugget, it's time to go; the jig is up, and we need to get back to the commune ASAP," Emmett coaxed as he dragged me from some sort of bed.

I puked on his feet as everything spun, and Emmett's seven eyes blinked worriedly at me.

"'Scuse me, Mr. Michelin Man, but I don' feel so goo'," I mumbled with strings of vomit hanging from my lips.

"Well, I do believe we can officially say we have a fucking SNAFU on our hands."

"No, t'ank you. I don' eat those."

"And here I thought you were going to be fun high, Alice."

"'Scuse me, mister, but you got blood on yo' pants, and you kinda smell funny . . . like, like burn-ed hairs and a goo' pot roas'." My granny made the best pot roast with potatoes and carrots and green beans. Finger-lickin' goodness. "And you drippin' ketchup on me and that _stains_." I poked a finger into the shoulder he was leaking from.

"This is my favorite dress," I informed him, gesturing to what I was wearing. He keeled over, dropping me on the floor. "'Scuse me, mister, but s'not not nice to knock a lady over. You should 'pologize." He didn't move or make a sound. "Mister?"


End file.
